Introduction to Tswana by Alexander Sandilands

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Beschreibung:

"Introduction to Tswana" by Alexander Sandilands was published in 1953, but is now out of print. It can be a valuable aid in learning Setswana, a language that is spoken in Botswana and large parts of South Africa.

Verfügbare Formate

Introduction to Tswana by Alexander Sandilands

Hochgeladen von

Beschreibung:

"Introduction to Tswana" by Alexander Sandilands was published in 1953, but is now out of print. It can be a valuable aid in learning Setswana, a language that is spoken in Botswana and large parts of South Africa.

All rights in thisbookareresenred,andnopart

MoRIIA PnTNTING WOBI$

MoEtlA

'

BA$I'rror AND

:!:'.+!::'

:.,.83',"'

PREF ACEbooh

against the making of such -a

There are three things which militateil;; lt 'tili"o great volume ofthis on the Tswana language' In the first-ph*ii"t i" a grea: d""l tno* thalantfientic written tr*"* ?, existence, "lth"";i.tt'e.texicogmpher'';there was ttrenty years ago; eonseluel$l 'il ;;;*"Jai'A conl\ntiout writer

i!-lsi'7. obvio'dv lcft meav

bc nniversal *d"m#:;;';A;'i""ia"J"po" within its exaggqratioas'anddfngs in a highly unsatisfactciry ,*g *Ju"i",It is'most unfortunate that a worh ' 'jloomistencies, the seeds of its own decay'**'of'"t polemical' aod thatftc the present one has got to b'-in 9l t*;;qd " P.t*' I have tried'rgumots,rpo. o"t"'iq':;;'i*to say"q*fni'vtfto" totnJeppenaix' Here it is sufrcientr hr as possible, to Li"g"t" thiscentirr5fsaofguartrawork i" tie tesult of|srr the system adopted.fortbe lwels of literature aod'"hnguagelod5r, and a"ilv *"ic,n""trv-"pon correspondence; and' lifb'""a*oy1pf A"ilv "1""itt":ton'cuhre, but in thecompremtuc"1""'i'

""*;iir. b iotor r,""o.i.r';#;

i*t

'#;it ;;ilt * t:"'.1workable

"

I#$1!l'*'*mpqix;T'';itLT*$tffini$'er.p,"ill

.-*''

=_''.::"'T_-=a="'-,,--.

'-

,,,,at--____---=-

a--:::,,:a,r:,

aa'

tttjt-=-.'-

=-tt.

=.--

"''-'-t,,.=.:.'.'

,, ,,,.'-']iii1-..i,,

I tt I a:::itttt

::

at.rtt]-

,,:::::ara

'::

:t':

::: :: :

::t:a:

I :i:t t:

,:

t:

:a::

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:t::::::::::

:::

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t:a

:ttt:::

t:tt.t:::t

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Prelace

viiitrial. Ia particular it

is to be hoped that the modern vested interests

in AfrluD wrnacrrlars, represented by Universities, Government Educationalpcpedn@andhrblishing Houses, will approach the system in a broad-mindedand scft:ntific spirit, and forbear a not unnatural outcry against a system otherrhen ttcir own, rmtil it has been given fair consideration and fair trial over anumber of years.This book is in no way a scientific grammar of the language; indeed thewriter's aim has been to keep formal grammar and grammatical language in the

oficred for

life interest is in Setswana as

thought, culture, literaturemediumofgrowingas a living anda. lattgaagespecimens in testinterestingasetpieceorofand religion, and not as a museurn(ardthe not-so-newintroducenew-comersistohisaimso in this booktubsin suchlanguage,BantuandeSpansivcexpressive,thisflexible,comers also) toitsuuinaccuracy,speedandreasonablewithmaymastr,fq|u:",sa way that theyand principles. It is primarily a book for the missionary the government official,tfie trader and the school-teacher; if it is also found useful by the African peoplewhose beautiful language it attempts to describe, the author will be very pleasedand proud. But it does not attempt or pretend to be a book for the linguistictechmlogisi.Moieover, grammatical terms which are really adequate for and apposite totlre Tswana language, have yet to be evolved. In many cases I have acceptedDoke's trms as set but in his BeNru Lrrvcutsrrc TSRMTNoLoGJ* and in his ZuluGnmduen, fourth edition; in other cases l have suggested alternative termg;in others I have simply avoided the use of any term. In spite of the desire to getaway from European.linguistic terminology, it is in practice very difficult to doso; witness for example the elaborate list of Tswana grammatical terms published a few years ago by the Cape Education Department. Most.of these termsi are nothing else but highly fanciful (if not fantastic) ttanslations of English orclassical grammatical terms: many of them 4re quite inapplicable to a Bantu language, and as a. whole they leave Tswana gralnmar still largely unexplained. ButI suppose they provide examirters with something in which to exarnine unfortunateas much as possible. As the writer's

candidates.

Somethi"g ought to be said in explanation of the plan of this book. The

methods and Jtyle Lf the usual grammar-book were not indicated, since a manuallike this has to be kept interesting all the time, and the student rnust be led progressively on from one polnt to another. In a formal or technical grammar therecan be no progression of thought or linguistic ability.

(1). Now of course there can be no delnite or accepted 'order o{ prgcedgnce', or of 'priorities', in the grammar of a languagg; any order adopted fora purpose such as that of this book must be arbitrary, and subjective, and opento criticism. The order in which I have taken the various features of grammarwould not have appealed, probably, to another writer. The plan as a whole mightbe described as a'oerbo-cmtrie' one; the Tswana verb has been taken as the* But the entire ignoring of Tswana as a highly significant Bantu language very greatly.reduces tlre value of Doke's book for students of Tswana.

Preface

lX

m--ework of the whole stru'cture, and all tJre other component parts, merlrbet's, 'd pieces have been gradually added and built into that framework' Thehporance of the verb has been rrgarded as supreme'(2) The exercisei are long, and have been constructed with m19h 3are;ft.y; indeed the second main feature of the book. Admittedly, diSjointedconnected prose, however lim.de; P"'-m*"o are much less interesting thanqnccted prose can never give the intensive drilling .in the particular. points 'tcins considered that specially constructed or selected sntences can do' In

attificiality is inevitable; a Motswana would regard many

*"nd""*t"rAi"rsd rhe early sentences as lacking in idiomatic qirality. But after these initial'qes, both the e*amples of usage and construction in the lessons, and the senre in the exercises,tt*" U"""Lken fromlextant Tswana literaturel 1.11 'h:(Wookey revision of r9o8), from the Padiso series of Schoolthernders, which give a fairly wide range of dialect as written by BatswanainbyI.schaprcracollectedwritgrsdrcs; from the articles by u,arious'TswanaandSeboni'sDrpnosnopnosHo,nftr;A r,r Mrr,eo Borr*n*o; from Plaatje's"oIt is gratifying to see new books in Tswana appearing;lrmonn s'A, Keeu,CAor.malthough they feature different dialects and orthographic vagaries; -but tfe$! is still by iar the greatest Tswana classic, and represents,-apart from itsTswanaFi[nry and supreme u"lo" ," the word of Life, a minetoofsayauthenticnotdoesitthatisnotWhichelse.f.n l" not to be found anywhere

g".lo"rr" Bible

red

revision

(3) In the third place, oery full notes are supplied to th1 le-ssory and exer'eir+ i" tr5r to ,clean ,rp' *y little difficultiee or anomalies which might pu2zlerb trdej. Much teachin! and explanatiOn are concentrated in these notes,d thc student is urged to master' them as completely as he masters the lessonlr:riel itself. The Ltes are cross-ieferenced *" far as possible' Because oftt full explanations given in these notes, and beclruse it would have added veryFcdX to the

size of

tie

book,

I have decided not to provide

full

separate voca-

ffidu1r.

{4)Thefourthmainfeatureofthebookisitstreatmentoftone,T9f

on the importance of tone study. No precedents have been available

i*;[Eqrdtheline of lone study suggested is pragma ic rather han theoretic o1the lesson".i'*ilic I 'one is .t rdi"d from a grammatical point of view (followinghastreatmentThisofoi"*.poittt.toneticapurelyfrc) rather than fromoftongrammarseparateatoconstruc-ttrythanratheifu &ldnntages. But6b *tilc my own study of tone is still incomplete, I have thought it bestfeatures,;l;b b draw attentiol irom time to tirne to certain obvious toneticownconhisupbuildandstudy,orvnhisdostudentd fr. the rest to let thelEs ad rules.lr for the Tswana language itself, it is a pity that,. owing to inadequatethe.past, it has always been grouped as a j.unior member of the so}}fuin.-i +tho clustef' For theri sedms nb reasonable-doubt that Setswana i'it evidences$-.mber of that group of languages, and thatbf"rrth"ntic

"rm1pt

p.rcJaccin its cbborate tond structurc, itr noun-crasscl and rmwer+ptco,nuyfr.'nrwhich have dfonppcared elsewhere. ,t1 is a very flexible and expressive and extensive langqag'e.Thc pcrcut-book-isdeliberately termed an 'introduction', for it wtu o'ir!.a an" shdcrt rcertain- dirq* abng his path. It wil taraty qualify hh;-; ritL frtrD. M. Ramoshoana's prose, or to g.""p. ti" grannaticrtltrocrcof the language of the 'm6dkd'. But it i, a*ig""a a{GT,,hbrt"iffi

f9r his own td"lstud11f those higher reaches of the language. Nc, of *'-tnJg4n a manual such as this- cater firfly for thespeciotist;aooa 6c mrq,1fe gmlter, the trader, the tradesman" the veterinary ofrcer, each roquinr bdcvglop his or her ovm range or vocabulary of special nouos andvcrta

I think of Setswana as a vast trad,, aontin4

,^_-l::-TL:'"t"country' and?"1of m)rye$.as a settlcr or immigrant

lor'st

have lived there

of vftSinliving in one coracrof iL

-gofd

fot a

nurnber

tn" --,t y fte uuy

nof"" ""*;tr;;j,o'rn:,pexploration into the interior. But there still remainrqions ,fris ere rergdyqoexpl"d and 'uomepped. TherenBsesses whcrc r hrc rwrPelc and innumerable bills and"r"-"ourr,lo"valleys which I have ncrtr Od-

thipa, we are buyrtg a knife,

Translate into English

- look up the two new wordstionary ; kgosi forms its plural exactly as does thipa.

in the Dic-

1 Ba riha dithipa. 2 U bona hgosi: 3 Re b6na difuosi. 4 Lo

thipa. 5 Ke bdna dithipa. 6 Lo rika thilta. 7 o bdna dikgosi.

Ba bdna kgo$.

Setswana:t I see a chief. 2 Hesees a chief. 3 We see the chiefs. +They are seeing the chief. 5 He sees chiefs. 6 you (plu.) are seeinga chief. 7 You (sing.) see a knife. 8 I buy knives. g w. are seeingthe chief. 10 You (plu.) see knives. 11 He sees a knife. 12 Th"yExERcrsE

Translate into

see chiefs.

il

Now pause to study the sounds which, in setswana, the various lettersrepresent. (Formerly the name of the language was written 'sechuana',the'ch'being soft, as it is in English'church,;or,Secwana,.)The 'values' of the letters are often not the -same as those in modern English.vowEr-s Roughly speaking, in setswana, the vowels have the 'continental, or

Italian values.The vowel in rte is near to what is called the ,short i, 6 F.rglish, as we hearit in words like 'pit', 'sit', or 'tick'.The first vowel in rlka has a diacritic or accent which indicates that it isnot the same as the vowel in Ae. It is pronounced as the French i with a graveaccent, as in phe, father. In English it exists only as a short vowel: the nearestthe CoNcrst Oxrono DrcrroNeny gets to it is the vowel in, e.g., .wreck', (p. *r),which is short; if it is lengthened it is about the same as the Setswana sound.(A better example would be the first vowel in the words 'sending'and ,selling'.see Appendix, Article 1.) This vowel needs practice, for most Bitons. (Inthe International Phonetic Association,(I.P.A.) alphabet, it is represented bythe Greek c, epsilon.)The second vowel in ftka, the same as the second vowel in thilta, ot the vowelin Da, is easy; it is the same as in English 'father'. (coNcrsn oxrono Drcrroxmybah.)

is'i' as in Italian or French, generally represented

by double '"'as in 'meeting,.The first vowel in bdna".g.,is like the English 'aw' sound, as in 'raw', or 'caw';see Oxrono Drctroxlny: or as in the word ,bought,.The first vowel in hgosi is as in English ,mote, or ,moat,,The first vowel'in thipa

in English

Lesson

fun- 'Tone' is a feature that runs all through Setswana and otherUfBcs; the student ought to be aware of its existence, and ought to

hfu

rt, from the very start of his studies. ft is very difficult to ucl,rir.;nqr ir to listen, and listen, and listen, until the ear be6omes trained toin the tones as well as in the consonants and the vowels.

The 6 in bdna is the same as that letter's sound in English; but

netch that it has no taspiration' or emission of breath.

ftrlrmts no difficulty.ilrrhtlus''as always in Setswana, is'sibilant'. Pronounce it as a doublefd;dJiouwill besafe. ft is never a 'z', asa single's'often is in spoken! fr h &ust' is a difficult sound. The g is the same as in Dutch 'gaan,,ffimi$ loch', a guttural sound which will need a lot of practice ,rnles,[l

xrlff

-vYa-

6uwuurc.r

v\.rr-.rl\l

vvlll\,ll

YVII'I.

ffggU

aa IUL

Ul

PfaUtl

African. The kg is this sound with a h in front of it.

r if frirly straightforward, but is more trilled than in Southern English,t t it is pronounced in Scotland.* L ffipa, th" .p in that same word, and the k in rika, raise the wholed trryiratea' and tunaspirated' consonants, and it may as well be- liler.il or S.

Wantst,P,andkalllooksimple,butaremoredifficultthanthey

UtEf

are not the same as, though they resemble, the English consonants.

ar important difference is made between these consonants when

IEG' or unaspirated, and when aspirated. tipa and thipa are twokwords,thedifferencebeingclearlymarkedinthepronunciationfu @mant. So pala and phala are quite difierent, as are kubu and

ft might naturally seem to us that the aspirated consonants those

- ons.H ty e puff of breath i.e., th, ph, and kh are the difficultndfr4 they are perfectly easy for Britons; it is the'pure'or unaspirtt present the difficulty. For, the practice in modern English is

{ thee consonants without being aware of it. When a Motsw ana

F!nce.twopowerfulkings',hehearstheinitialconSonantsaSthooHiints'- which is actually what we say. (A common Englishr red in Setswana is 'ticket'; it is invariably written,ns an African

as well as the article, had been Tswana-iseJ,

the advertisement would have read"DITHAI tse Tnurner,,'.)

The difrcult sounds for u3 are actua,y

the pure or unaspirated-thereforet: P,k. They can be acquired with practice,once the stuaent ,eatire, wt er"12dthe difficurty lies. To.test one's 'aspiration'and to practice thi, ,it"i;iff;;;;;inconsonants, take a little strip of li$ht thinpaper, about 4,, x 1,, and hold itin thb fingers, by its top end, verticail!, about aninch in front of trre rpr. Hold.ing it t!y, hanging loose, when yor,. pronouncethe aspirated ,, o; p, or k, thepaper will swing rapidly out, blown oti by the ,aspiration, or emission of breath;when you pronounce thei unaspirated consonant,'th"pup", ;;;";.show nomovement. So practice this until you can say co*ectiylthata,- and, phEa, andhhaka. (The last is an imaginary word.)(And remember, of course, tlat the'English consonant ,th,as we have it in:'there', 'these', 'thither', etc., is not an aspirated t';it is not a ,t, at a1. InTswana it does not exist.)

rika thipa, I shall b,ty a knife,

re tlaa rhka thipa, we shall buy a knife,

Io tlaa rlka thipa, you(plt.)...ba tlaa rika thipa, they...

lilffir hilc word or 'particle', tlaa, is the

means by which the Present tense

into the Future tense. At least, that is what it looks like; tlaa can&n as equivalent to 'shall', or 'wi11', although here it has virtually thattr other connections and usages it means other quite difierent things.thiq tlnn is shortened into tla,but it is more correctly written as above.hil it is a long vowel ; at the most it is a double vowel with lower tone ona-

Ttc

is used for joining nouns and pronouns; podi le nhu,

nr gS and a sheep, or, the goat and the sheep. It cannot be used forffie verbs, clauses, or sentences.

C-onjunction

/e

Utiog the Dictionary, translate into English:

I Translate into Setswana:

il &tl b,ry a goat. 2 You (sing.) will see the chief. 3 She isr Hmket. + They are milking the goats. 5 You (pl,r.) willrfr rLGGp and the goats.6 We see the oxen. 7 They will seeandI am sewing a blanket. 9 You (sing.)theknives.8ih;;r ;5f0 She seeb sheep and oxerr. 11 They will see the chiefs.il n h!-ring sheep. 13 He is milking the goats. l+ You (sing.)S..Lrts. 15 They are buying the sheep and the goats and the oxen.

Lesson

16 I'll brry17 They are herding oxen. , 18 We are buying'lgblankets.knives.He will see the blanket. 2A We shall see the chief and the ox.Notes

1 A kabiis really a skin 'kaross', but the word is applied to the Europeanblankets which have been in use for many years.

The word kgomo, and its plval dikgomo, is used both in a general sensefor all cittle of both sexesl and also, more strictly, for the male cattle. (Strictlyspeaking, to indicate a 'cow', it is necessary to say, hgomo e namagadi, a 'femaleox'.. But this distinction can be neglected at present.) (There isalsoafurtherdivision of male oxen into stud bulls and trek-oxen3 See Lesson 5, Note 5.

ilI

Lesson 30, Note 17.)

SOUNDS

Of the new words, .nku is the only one likely to give trouble. In this word,in many others in Setswana, the a is a syllable: the pronunciation is something like 'a!9o', if you can make the 'i' vowel very short and light. The plural,dinku, is reallj' three syllablesng- ku', ('dee-ing-koo'), although the first- 'ditwo syllables naturally flow almostinto one. Note that this word nku hrs high

'as

ione on the last syllable, as has kgorno,' the tone-pattern is low-high.

And once more, be careful of the g in gama, and similar words.

It

is never

the'hard g'of English'gather', or the'soft g'of 'gender'; it is always Dutch or

Afrikaans sound of 'g', or the Scottish 'ch'. If you can say, 'Lochaber no more',liou have the initial syllable of gama.STRESS

In English, the stress or emphasis can fall on difierent syllables in difierent.

wordsit- may fall bn the first syllable, or the second, or the third or fourth; .occasionally there are two stressed syllables.(The word 'accent' is used, e.g. in the CoNcrsr Oxrono Drcrroivenv, for thisstress or emphasis, but is a word to avoid in our work, as it has other meanings:sometimes it means a diacritic, and sometimes it means a dialect. The word'stress' is more accurate and less ambiguous.)In English, again, the same word can mean two different things, according towhether the stress falls on the second or first syllable: the noun is 'permit', withthe stress on the first syllable, the verb is 'permit', with the stress on the second

ittt"?ti;,

in setswana, the rule is that the stress is always on the second-last

syllable of a word, or a phrase, or a sentence. There is an important apparentexception to this rule, but it will be dealt with in due course.(Note that in some dialects of Setswana, e.g. Sengwato (the dialect of theBangwato tribe) the compound consonant l/ has become simplified to a t, andinstead of saying he tlqa riha the people generally say ke taa rika)

5Y\r

ngox.

LESSON)an

,ffiTENDED

PRESENT: THE se- di-

NOUNS

&r, we have used the Present tense of the verb in conjunction with a$frFb direct object. When there is nothing following the verb, the Present

nse

mr

tlyale

lrea,slight1ydifferentform.Kerikathipais,Iambuyingaknife.ffi pg want to say simply, 'I am buying', you must s?Y, not just, keffit, b a rika.lnc lide particle e, which characterises this form of the Present, can beb cih:r conjoined to the pronoun (kea, etc.), or disjoined as above. BothF;nn fibund; before the L937 Orthography decisions the conjunctive writinglnnr-mt used. (The pros and cons are set out in Appendix, Article 2.)

ler

rydf lessons in this book, the a is written disjoined, as above; later, forhr mmns, the conjunctive writing is used.

b e rihn, I am buying,r E, rdha,

t a rlka,

you (sing.) . . .he (or she) . . .

re a rika, we are buying,

lo a r\ka, you are buying,ba a rlka, they are buying.

rer

t'.1c only sort of noun we have had so far, has been that in which the plural

or

h frrmed by adding the prefix di- to the singular noun. The next Classqer#.d is difierent, but *ot. typical of the majority.

b"

selrudi,

a duck

dihudi,

ducks

1',ffiilr Sat the plural is not di-sehudi, but di-hudi. For in this case the singh of the noun also consists of prefix and stem - se-, prefix, and -hudi,,,pt b form the plural the prefix is changed from se- to di-. There areoogrmon nouns "which form their plural in this way. We call themd- C1ass of nouns, or Class VI.

5 Translate into English:

qtri, the singular, means a certain food; the plural,

Erore common, as meaning food in general.)

re

ia

dry'd,

diid-

is much

:'

LessonExERcrsE

Translate into Setswana:

i t am_working. 2 You (sing.).are eating meat. 3 They see the

trees. 4 You (plur.) will obey (hear) the chief. 5 He will destroy thework. 6 we are eating. 7 we are eating ducks. g I hear an ox.9 They are milking. 10 T'hey milk the goats and the cows (oxen). llYou (sing.) are destroying the blanket. 12 I hear sheep (plu.). 13 you(plu.) are herding. l+ we herd the sheep and the goats. 15 she isworking, she is sewing a blanket. 16 They will see the sheep (sing.). 17I hear. '18 He is milking a goat. lg we see. z0 iou (sing.) willspoil the trees.

III

souNDs

(1) The z sound, as it occurs in utlua, and in sehudi, is the 'oo' sound thatis familiar to us in such words as 'too', 'contour', etc. It is not the ,yoo' soundwhich we have in, e.g., 'reputation'.(2) The first vowel in smya, the e, is difierent from the vowel e we hadin &e and also from the vowel d which we had in rika. It is like the sound wehave in the English word b'(exampled in preface to concrsr oxpono Drc-

rloNenv), or in 'mange', 'main'. Much care and practice should be given to

getting good vowel distinctions betwden d and e.(3) The e of the prefix se, and the final e of such words as setlhare, is likethis last-mentioned e, but is a little shorter and less definite.(4) The consonantal compound, tlw of utkra, hear, Iooks difrcurt, but isnot really so. Pronounce the word in two syllables, the first being the long vowel'oo', and the second the syllable tlwa, taking care not to get breath (aspiration)with the consonant. Try it out with the slip of paper, and listen to a Motswanapronouncing it.

(5) The ny of. smya, similarly, is not difficult; you get the exact efiectif the two English words 'can you' are spoken together.(6) The sound represented by j here, is less 'heavy' (such adjectives arehowever very unsatisfactory) than'j'is in Eng{ish'jail'; it.is a ,lighter,-'.g.,sound generally. It is something between aJ' and a 'y'. But the sound doesvary in the different dialects, and the student is advised to listen to it carefullyas pronounced in his area. In the south, and in the l9t0 agreed orthography,it was represented by the letter 'y', and is so in present Dictionary, Bible,-etc.Thus; when you see this letter J' in books using modern orthographles, you needto look for it in the Dictionary under Y. It is certainly better to represent thissound by ,, thus leaving y free for its semi-vowel, semi-consonant use, and forthe compound consonant zy.

(7)(8)

The t in tird rs of course the unaspirated t

see Lesson LThe tlh of setlhare probably looks msls -difficult than it actually is.The t/ is really a well-known sound, occurring in, e.g., 'settler', or 'Rutland'.It does not occur in English as an initial consonant, as it frequently does in Tsivana :its use in this capacity will take a little practice. But once again, remernber that

Lessonr the

I the, oX.11

You

pis17

will

has both tl. and tlh, the former with no emission of breath, the latterpdderablebreath, and that it is the former which the student wiil findfrurmfitfficult.Ttc student should check all the above descriptions against the actual pro-

ilin of his African teachers and colleagues. These ,rot., represent a moretcneral rule, but thg dialects of the tribes and areas vary considerably,tsI frc

only sure way to put oneself on right lines, is careful local study, *iif,rdlnactice in listening to Africans reading and speaking, and in readin! aloudl $er and seeking his corrections. It takes a long time to train one,s ear.tt q,tit Prepared for the comment that "We don't pronounce it as the booka b Pronounced !" Dialects vary, and all teachers, naturally, are not equally

ft-

Generally speaking, every Motswana holds that his own dialect and his

Frmunciation are "correct Setswana"

thathndhad

'we

)tc-

rto:

like

liswelDn)

lnaBct

10

LESSON

PRESENTTENSE,NEGATIVE:vowEl-CHANGES:Io-di=NOUNScomplicatedThe Tswana method of forming the Negative is rather moreinsert thetonecessarythan the English one. In the iatter it is merely

after, the verb

word ,not, _ generally l"for", but occasionally immediatelyaffirmatileTheone'to convert an affirmative statement into a negativeThis-statement,writing''notamiI am writing', becomes in the negative, 'Iholds good for all tenses and moods'

negative' ThereBut in Tswana each tense has a difierent way of forming thethe negative'maketotensesis no one word, like our 'not" which can be used in allEach tense must be studied by itself'

A"

Negative Present tense.

ftka thiPa, I am buYigg a knife'

gakerckethipa, I am not buying a knife'ke

rika',gaketeke,ke a

I am buYing'I amnotbuYing'

Noticefirstthattlrereisoneform,gakercke,tonegativeboththesimpleobject' ke rika thipa'(absolute) statement, ke a rlka, and the statement withThe complete tense in all persons is:ga ke rehe, I am not buYing'ga u reke, You (.ittg.) are not ' 'ga a reke, he (or she) is not ' ' '

From the above

ga re rehe, we are not buYing,

ga lo reke, You (Pln.) are not ' ' 'ga ba reke, theY are not . . .

it will be seen that the Negative of the Present tense

exhibits two chief features:

(1) The little word ga is placed before the complete verbal phrase:fural(2) The verb-word itself undergoes a double change of vowels: thechahges

vowel changes from the ,,,.,"1 -o to -a, and the stem+rowel -r}_to -e-,It will also be noticed that the third personal pronoun, singular, undergoesa is oftenreasons'change from o to c. This is apparently ior euphonic. Theandsound'totendsphrasein sieech elided into the preceding ga, and thebecome, ga reke.

case of the verb

Now the change in the stem-vowel (which we notice in the(or thestem-vowelforlawrika) doesrrotl"pp"r, with all verbs' Thethe

penultimate vowel in

*oia. of several

syllables), is as

follows. When the

stem

Le"sson

11

'rwel is i, e, ai o,'or u, no change occurs in the negative; when it is d or d,

bwever,tt changes to e or o.

The vowel-diagram, given below, shows that these changes occur only inthe vowels on either side of the central low vowel c, and occur in an ,updirection. Put otherwise, the fairly 'open' vowels C and d change to the

qrd'

Dre

'close' vowels e and o.

Later we shall find other cases, grammatically, when the same changes occur.These two vowel-sounds, i and d, although very common vowels and very characuristic of the language, seem at the same time to be less stable than the others.ffie practical result, from an orthographical point of view, is that in the negative

rc

br

ls

llcsent tense, any stem-vowel diacritic disappears. This is not at all a

.rieatific way of describing the process; it is only a useful rule-of-thumb de-

urption for a learner.)

reB.

The vowel-diagram indicates roughly the relative positions of the vowels

in the mouthlooked- in thisc from the left side. It is useful to practise repeating the Tswana vowelserdcr, taking care to get them as distinct and as true as possible. The higheras they are formed, between tongue and palate,

Mels

are referred to as 'close' vowels, the lower ones as 'opeln' vowels. t

lea.

dotted lines

show

approxinate tonguepositions, for vowels

The close vowels

e

es

IfT

)n

aaaa,araaaaa

aaaaoa

BACK

oa

The open vowels

rb

le

The following examples show the affirmative and negative Present tenseof typical two-syllable verbs with all the seven vowels in their stems.

trr

::il

Lessott

L2

.te a dira,

we are working,we are trying,re a rdha, we are buying,re a bala, we are reading,re a bOna, we see,fe aw, we are watering,re a utluta, we hear,

we are not working,

we are not trying,we are not buying,we are not reading,we do not see,we are not watering,we do not hear.

nI

There is a third Class of nouns which, like the two studied before, formsthe plural in di-., :In this Class the singular has the prefix /o-, which ischanged into di- in the plural.Iohu:ald, a letter or

book,

dikwah, letters or

books

- (Ar we shall see later, this is an example of a noun formed from a verb.The verb kwala means, write: the noun lokrpal| means anything written, a letteror a book. More than one noun can be formed from this verb, as indeed frommost verbs.)rxsRcisE'

Translate into Setswana:

I I am not sewing the blanket. 2 You (plu.) are not watering the plants.3 We are looking for oxen. 4 You (sing.) see the trees and the forest.5 I shall read a book. 6 I am not eating food. 7 He is not spoilingthe needle. 8 You (plu.) are not obeying (hearing) the chief.' 9 Webeg meat. 10 He is not watering the plan-ts (trees). lf You (sing.) arenot milking the goats. 12 I shall herd the sheep. 13 I don't see theneedles. 14 We shall buy planks..and an axe. 15 He is not working,he is eating. 16 He does not see. 17 You (plu) are spoiling the books.18 We are not buying sacks. 19 We buy axes and knives. 20 He isnot reading, he is vniting a letter.

Notes

Beeides the seven vowels here shown, which are suficient for a practical orthography, there are two others, called 'half-open' vowels; one which might

Lesson

13

hc reoresented C. is between e and 2; the other, which might be represented d,

r b.fo""n d'and o. They tend to be variable, sometimes approaching the more,ilrf,nite vowels e and o above them, or the d and d below them' The scientifidl.v-minded student will find a long discu.ssion of Tswana vowels in an articlelhm Mr. D. T. Cole (of Witwatersrand University) in ArnrceN Sruorcs, Sept.ug9, entitled NOrrS ON THE PnoXOr.oCrCer, RrurroNSHIPs OF TsWeNe VOWrm'2 Thi word lotnad which appears in Exi:rcise 7, and. is translated loosely.needle,rin Exercis 8, is really the long setswana eye-less needle which ismch more of an awl than a needie, and is used for piercing holes in skins whenrmting them up into karosses or garments, the thread used being a long thinrnhel- sinew. It is also used for the making of the reed or rush mats calledilGan-,when the thread or string used is of vegetablez nulc, but this is not a true Setswana word'

ofigln. A European needle

'b:

l.

rI

souNDS

,Ttere are only two new consonants in this lesson, and they should not presentrm mnch difficuliy. There is the ls in kgetse, which is fa,irly easy, as it occursh trlglish, for^ example when the consonant I closes one syllable and the consoin words like'Whitsunday', 'hot sand'. (Notentr-commences thi next onelike 'cats' or 'plots' is not quite the sameplurals*r 6c 'ts' at the end of Englishwhich could be written with moreconsonant'it tends to be a heavierd

- accuracy 't '.)

"' d.TItc other new sound is the ftgo h the word sehgwa, a forest. we have&dt had the compound consonant kg, a1.d this new compound is that soundrflL ; o after it. This compound, ftgzo, will require some practice. It often{E s the initial consonant of a word.|l

tIFl

ee?

?t

I,

f,

hrt

I4

LESSONQUESTIOI\ & ANSWER: eng?

In English

,5

bo- ma- & Ie- ma- NOUNS: mme

a positive or affirmative statement can be turned into

a question

by (a) inversion of the subject and predicate

- e.g., 'John is eating' becomes 'Is John eating ?' and also (b) by employing'interrogatives, such as, what ?when ? where ?'What is John eating !'- ".9.,In Tswana it is notvery dissimilar ; but there is no such inversion as occursin English. 'There are two principal methods of turning a statement into a

how

question.

(1)

A positive statement can be made into a question by putting a lowfone a before it, thus;rika selipi,& o rlka selipi?o

ga ba reke dil4pd,ga ba reke dilipi?C

he is buying an axe.is he buying an axe ?they are not buying axes.are they not buying axes ?

(2) The significance of 'what !' is expressed by the little word eng? whichis put after the verb: o fika eng.? 'What is he buying ?'Now, since verbs always end in a vowel, and eng? begins with a vowel, itoften happens that elision takes place between these two vowels, and, o rlha eng?becomed o rikang? That is, the e of the eng has become lost or elided intothe a vowel of the verb.ba dira eng ? what are they doing, becomes ba dirang?la tlaa rhka eng ? becomes lo tlaa rihang ?

(3) Note that the word eng? is really two syllables, not one; it is e-ng,although the two syllables are pronounced so much together that it sounds to anuntrained ear as if they were one syllable. Similarly dirang ls not two syllables,but three- di-ra-ng.This is the 'apparent exception' to the rule that stress always falls upon the

second-last syllable, mentioned at the end of Lesson 2. When d.ira is pronounced,

it is easy to hear that the stress falls upon the di-; bfi if dirang is pronounced,it sounds at first as if the -rang gets all the stress. Actually, however, the stressis upon the syllable ra-, or, one might say, upon the vowel a; and the -zg is theunstressed last syllable. The rule that stress falls upon the second-last, or penultimaie, syllable, still holds.

There are other cases, as we shall soon see, when -ag forms the ending of aI in all these cases the stress actually falls upon the

word, either noun or verb

yowel preceeding the:ag ending.

Lessoni

ne

lnct?rS

,ihrs are very much as in English.

frd fu b or ee it is not two distinct vowels, but often written as a doubleb indicate its- length; it is a very long vowel, with a downward glide.ilL it starts fairly high-tone, and slides down to a fairly low tone: this cancrsily heard in any Motswana's speech.Th' is nnyAa. It is really three syllables, n-nya-a, but the three are runrn ordinary speech. (Some writers write it nyaa, and in former times6nerally written nya. But it ought to be rempmbered, even when thatiJ used, that the vowel is long and has a pronounced downward glide,

6e affirmative

ee.)

f]ffiffitre are two other negatives, which may be mentioned here as the studentthem sometimes in speech; for his own purposes he may neglect them atI{nyaya is arl emphatic negative, meaning 'not atall!'or'certainly not!'flfrtn written nyaya, but is really three syllables. And there is a conversanngetive, i i/ equivalent to nnyaa; the two vowels are distinct and separate,fo a f"i.ly high tone, the second a much lower tone.)

T'b

Tswana word mme (formerly inaccurately written me),

ilrer b a Cumulative conjunction,

f'

i. a conjunction;

and is only used with nouns; that is,

hd

is a Contrastive conjunction; it is used only to connect a statement

uede with a following statement which contrasts with the first one, oror diminishes its force. Hence its meaning is never 'and' ; it is 'but',,, ff 'nevertheless'. (It has been, through a mistaken literalness, wrongly

it

i!b

fo Sc Setsrvana Bible, and has unfortunately passed into speech, to some

ftono le dikotoi, mme ga ke

I see the oxen and the wagons, but

I do not see the sheep.

]ou E'ant to say, 'I see the oxen and the wagons, and I see the sheepor, 'He struck the boy and pushed him into the water', you cannot use&- c ffiiu for these English 'ands'. To render them into Tswana, either'm,d re jalo, thus, or le gdni, also, must be used i or, much better, an auxilSo such connected sentences will not be used until much later in

Translate into Setswana:

1 What shall we build ? Shall we build a house ? 2 Will they kill the? 3 I am taking the seed. 4 Am I not obeying the chief ? 56 No, we see a wagon only. 7Do you (sing.) see the riems and axes ?I am asking for a wagon, Chief. 8 Is he kiling a sheep ? 9 You (sing.)willhear the answer. 10 Are you (plu.) looking for a well? 11 No,we are looking for the road. 12 She will ask questions. t3 Is he writing14 Shall I water the plants (trees) ? 15 What are youthe answer ?16 Don't you (plu.) see the needles ? 17 Is she not(sing.) building ?18 I want a knife, and an axe, but I dontt want a whip. 19sowing seed iThey will eat food tonight. ?I He reads, but he does not write. 2lducks

They will go through (pierce) the forest.

Notes

. 1

Note that the noun parsri has obviously much in cornmon with the verbbotsa;'the one is formed from the other. An object which thus rePeats the verbor its meaning is called a 'cognate object', and is a thing of very contmon occurrence in Tswana. Thus we have such phrases as kc dira tb6, lit., I work a work;he aga hagd,I build a building, etc.-2 iroyo, to take, was formerly spelt tsaca, and so aPPears in the presentDictionary and in all literattire before 1937' (The. e is a 'semi-vowel' or 'gemithere are two such, now represented by the letters y and nr, butconsonant'

formerly represented by e and o.)

9 The very common word liln means.'only' or 'just', and it generallyoccufir, as here, at the end of the sentence or clause. But it has other meanings.(For the pronunciation of the consonant, see III, 'Sounds', in Lesson 7.). 4 ntlo, a hut or house, is an irregular noun in that its plural is not dintlob* matla. There are a few such irregular nouns.5 The word podi appears in some dialects as pudi. We shdl find othercases in which tlis vowel o (the closed 'o') varies to z in some dialects. For example, plnti nd plwti, z duiLer.

Lesson

T7

,i t t&" n seek or look for, when used like this in an absolute or unqualiha5 the technical meaning of looking for strayed cattle.iffilq,I'bmeans 'by' or. 'with', when some action is done with or by meansLlknrnent.It cannot be used of the agent; when.an action is donellil.i'!fiffre, one must use Ae, not ha. (See Lesson 20.)iil,

n Wuka, a reed, is also used in the collective sense, as here. The

d shich grows in great beds in Ngamilandand used to grow in many- is stilt extensively used forwhere the water has now dried up

Slru

hrrc and walls.

fi The verb nwn, drink, is often used, instead of ja,

for the

eating

fuigo, used as here in an appositional w?y, has the force of an adverl:

it means 'at night' ornight'. Other nouns indicating times of-ds be used in this way. 'by I

]u@r

ih

eat,

18

THE TONE SYSTEM OF TSWANA

On". o, twice already it has been mentioned that a certain word or syllableshould be given a certain tone or pitch of voice, relative to that of the other wordsor syllables in the context. And the student, especially if he has had a goodMotswana teacher, will have discovered that, apart from consonants and vowels,there is a mysterious right way and wrong way of pronouncing the language.Now English is not at all a 'tonal' language in the sense that the Bantu languages are tonal; and some languages, like Chinese' are even more tonal than theor at least are tonal in a different way. Yet English does employBantu onestone or pitch to indicate some special'shade of meaning : generally higher ionethan the surrounding words or syllables. When we wish to emphasise any wordin a sentence, we generally raise its pitch: although sometimes the same effectcan be obtained by lowering its pitch below the level of the surrounding words.For example, a single phrase, "What are you doing ?" although it has a generaland obvious meaning, can be made to express variations of that meaning by raisingor lowering the tone of one of its component words. If we indicate the hightone wordly the use of capitals, we could have all the four variants:

(1)(3)

'iWHAT are you doing ?"

"What are YOU doing ?" and

(2)(4)

"What ARE you doing ?"

"What are you DOINTG ?"

Although admittedly no two persons would put quite the same pitch into theseemphasised words, yet the phrases, when so treated, do convey generally-accepteddiffering shadtls of nieaning. The first one expresses more urgency, or moresurprise,'or more desire to find out, than if the words were all said in a level toneof voice. The second contains a note of expostulation or perhaps rebuke, as ifto say, "What on earth is this strange or foolish thing that you are doing ?" Theare doing.as distinct from other peoplethird asks more pointedly what you

The fourth concentrates attention upon the action of doing, as contrasted withspeaking or talking, etc., as if one would say, "You talk a lot, but what are youdoing about it ?" Still, in English, such use of tone is a very individual thing;there is no uniformity, or system, about it.Now in'Tswana one cannot indicate shades of meaning, excePt to a smalldegree, by similar variations of the tone-pattern of a single phrase such as theEnglish example above. Such shades of meaning are normally given by amplifications or modffications, more in the style of the above explanations. of the fourvariants.

The reason is that, in a Bantu language like Tswana, intonation is not at alla matter of an individual's habit of speech; it is a regular systematic feature ofeveryone's speech, and it occurs in every utterance. Every word carries a moreor less precise tone tir tone-pattern, which does not depend, in relation to thesurrounding words, upon any personal idiosyncracies. In any particular sentence'each word has its definite tone-pattern, but that pattern almost alwalo dep6nds

Tone

19

qm the context; it is not generally inherent unalterably in the word itself.

l b govertrCd by various factors position in the sentence (beginning, middle,m tn4 pause or period), nature of the seritence (affirmation, exclamation, commd or question), and by the prese-nce or absence of fixed or determinative tones.Tld b to say, it depends upon sevegal factors, mostly of a grammatical nature.[lace it

rFrB of speech: tone must always be studied in the living sentence, with words@ring in a normal and natural and meaningful context. (Professor Danielfrc's work mentioned below, done some thirty years ago with the assistance,ef LIr. S. T. Plaatje, suffers from this fatal misconception: but it was pioneer,nrt. in 4n unexplored field.)

Intonation being such an integral and important feature of the language,

n method of representing it is essential for any serious study, and variousmrs hare been proposed, no one of which, so f4r, is free from serious disadvan-

,ttlF

One method uses marks, such as the apostrophe and the French acute and6f,e*c'accents, etc., over the vowels or below them, i.e., above or below the lined typc or print. This method can, at best, only give -a very rough indicationofti[" medium (unmarked), and low tones, and of rising or falling tones. . It canr idicate the many intermediate levels, nor indeed show the actual pitch of any1:rirrhr tone.otmther method is to draw or print, in the same line of type, but following& 6c word or phrase, a series of short horizontal strokes at different hgights,b &r the 'tune' of the words: very much as the notes on'a staff-notation stavefu 6e tune or air. The same method is sometimes employed in the form oflcFrrt parallel line of marks below the sentence. This method can be fairly

fficinits indication of tone levels; but it is cumbersome, involving as it*rr fre @nstant looking backwards and forwards between the tone-marks andfr rords to which they apply, with the risk of making errors by applying theqme-marks to a word. It is a method which is useful when dealing, as

fhtu

use of these methods,

illhe

fi-

urall

et leisure the laws of tone .and their exceptions.

Tswana, which is not only absolutely necessary tohing, but to accurate hearing of what is said, is both fascinating andIf a person has not a naturally acute ear for pitch, he will require ab train his ear to recognise and distinguish Tswana tones, and onlyhc sill enable him to reproduce them well. One difficulty for Euro-

mr"b of intonation in

rof

nds

with single words. (For examples of the

TLc method used in this book is the most effective that the author has yet.h ttre indication of tone: but it cannot be printed or typed. (Moveableililh all the possible tone-markings would be too expensive to make as wellpfr-'+ difficult to use.) The method requires photographic reproduction,ilh- books are concerned, from an original hand-marked text. But, for theb odyhg the language, it has the very great advantage of making him dob'rffi bne-listening and his own tone-marking: from which, once done, he

t'ft

lCt

does,

r IL tones, ToNrs on SncnueNA NouNS, and A. N. Tucker, Connpenetrvr

hcrcs or Suro-CnuANe, and SorHo-NcuNr OnrnoenapHy AND ToNnknrc.r

r-

)rethe

ln{i'nrry

fl

Tone

20peans is that the quality or nature

of a vowel itself tends to be mistaken for, or to

asits tonef e.g., the vowel I as pronounced in Setswana often soundsbeingofimpression"o.rfrrr",if it were high tone,-because it produces a certain mental,sharp,or higt. Actually it may be high tone, or it may be low tone; or anywhereb"t*""rr.. Ii takes some pru"tic" before a person can isolate, aurally and mentally,the tone of a syllable from its actual vowel-sound'

Anothercaoeatmaybegivenhere;itisnotwisetodependforalongperiodtone-usageupon one single Motswana teacher. There are slight variations 9fwhatdialectsindifferentto be discover.d i.r difi"r"nt Batswana speakers, andis,however,(There_is correct for one may not necessarily be generally correct.and consonants,much less dialectic variation in tone than there is in the vowels

and consonants'*)and hence good intonation is more important than good vowelsofAfricansspeakingtheOne,s studf with one teacher ought to be checked againstfrom other tribes and dialects.

.Again,asineverypeople,voicesvary.Somepeoplearenaturallydistinct

lower. And.p.uk"?r, some indistinct; some voices are higher than others, somethgYothers;dothanpitchsome Batswana seem to cmploy a greater range ofthe low ones more obviouslyseem to make the high tones mo.e obriorr.ly high, and

low. other speakers appear to have normally fairly level, or even monotonous,The former type makesvoices, in which it is difficult to detect tone variations.

if otherwise reliable. (Let no one make the mistake of thinking

much as others,that because some Batswana apPear not to use tonal variation asthere; it isisalwaysTonethat therefore tone is not of very great importance.and itsrangeitscatchtofailsor unaccustomed hearing that"*rained""r""rvsignificance.)tones moreChildren's voices are often clearer than those of adults, and theiransweringlittlechildrenofaudible and distinguishable. A Sunday-school classhearingofopportunitygoodth" t"""h"i'. qrr"Jiorr. can sometimes provide a

the beiter teacher,

clearly differentiated Setswana tones'

really only one prescription for a good Tswana pronunciation;

listening to the speech of Batswana men and \rr'omenand that is, years ol""r"frland tonean{ children, with one's ear on the alert, all the time, for tone-patternsand laboaclassroom;insequences. It cannot be learnt from books, or acquiredto doattemptsthislikeabookratory investigation is of doubtful value. All that

ih"re i.

i. to prrt the student on sound lines of study and of practice, and to draw attentionto the necessity for continual personal investigation'rs{t*tFi(C

o,f this. We have tgf,.in ttre'piblg School here' along

it.*:the Chobe district in the extreme north.rrra""r.i'.ii-"'."f]i"with the Batswana^""b.rt speaks it fairly well : his vorrels areJiin"..ii,i.**lioirnJH"nu"of Bechuanaland.areot"t. Now such faults in vowels(e'g',op.ttintovowels--L"t-irrt"p"5.the.wrongil;;il;G.;#;ffi;d;;;ona wordtonesiti?r-.t"J""t.;trr"uvusuallv overlook a;#;i;ii;;;h"tt ut"'q"i"t to point outhis mistake' That is to sav' true tones are more

*The following is an instance

important than true vowels.

TONE MARKINGThe technique of tone-marking is not difficurt, and the student can modifyas he desir-es. An efiective method is to type out, in duplicate, the phrasesor sentences that are being studied, so that the Motswana helper can have one

it

copy and the student the other. Hand-writing can also be used, but is not nearlyso good as type. The tone marks are super-imposed on the type in red ink,rith a fine-point pen. A very sharp red pencil is also useful, but is not so accur-

r&

as the pen and

ink. In the earlier stages capital type is better than lower case,it presents a broad strip on which to

rs ttre letters are all the same height, and

pbce the marking.

The help of a literdte Motswana who knows enough English to understand

is expected of him, is absolutely essential. He should be asked to pronouncetbc v'ords slowly and distinctly, while the student compares his speaking withttc marked rone-tgxt, and then, later, marks his own typescript to the reaclingof his teacher: that is, he takes a tonal dictation. He wiil also read back to hishdper, trying to imitate the latter's pronunciation. A lot of repetition will beoceded, and at first the student may well find that he cannot hear any difierenceft*trr-een his way of pronouncing and the African's. He should practise until heFts some result, even if a meagre and disappointing one to him.In the early lessons, it is a mistake to attempt too much. Two or threephrases are enough to concentrate upon, but they shiiuld be practised until theyare right, or nearly so, and memorised.Remember that the African helper should not speak the syllables too slowly,nur there is a risk of his not putting normalspeaking tone on them: the syllablesucey become so isolated that they lose their pitch relative to the others.whenur phrase has been marked for tone, it sho;ld be repeated at normal speed, to

rtat

tsl

its accuracy.And remember that, unless you have an unusuafly highly-trained African- cher, it is quite useless to give him a tone-marked text and expecthim to readmetically from it. It will only confuse him: he will find it difficult, if not imgu$sible, to pronounce the words as.they are marked.Do not expect him, either,tm be able to mark tones on a written, printed, or typed script.To represents@dshigh or low tonesby marks on paper, is not easy: if it is to be done,- to be done by the- student himself. And with patientr rill needstudy it can berdtmc- It is the only way in which one who is not born and bred to thelanguage,m study effectively its tone-structure.

:-T. 1

lvrilrr ARE YOU DOING

l'I}!\{' A^RF-TOTI DO.TNG

:qE, R}ffiA T+[PT

3E R}TKA EITHIM

IIrc

IAIILT fiRE gOU DOT}IG

IAIH*S

Tstfr}TTHIPft

A&E

YOU

lotlrG

]c- Nhffi

TSIPA

Tfr HfuTA }LTHIFA

7'ono

22

TONE-PRACTICE

given differentThe English phrase which, as we have seen' can bebe tone-markedcouldwords'theofof meaning iy raising the Pitcil of one

shadesas

intoalthough some people would grve slightly different

;il;io*"-t"*il,nations.*:** copy in duplicate

the Tswana phrases of the ToNr-Trxr, without their

your assistant to read them totone marks (by typewriter if possible), and getdistinguish high and low tones'tobeginyot can

*i airtirr.tty, ',ttitlComparethetones,^Vo"hear'them-fromhim'withthosemarkedontheTextattempting to get coffect intonation'- Then practise speaking the -phrases'-"b";,following practice phrases, and gettheofTh"r, make, similari, tw; copiesuntilJou can make anyou, t"""h., to read them to yo", pt'h"p" many times'ied pencil' Whensharpaorink'redandat marking th" to""t *itn i"tt""*"*p, certain yJu have them rigtrtnot before then - mark the tones on the;;t;print in the book.

riha, etc., forms its negative thus:

ga re nke re r\ka, w shall not bry,

ga lo nke lo rika, 1'ou (pl,r.) . . .ga ba nke ba riha, they . . . r

(Sometimes the form of this tense is ga re nka re rika, instead of. the nkeebove. The nka form is dialectical, and in some areas regarded as moreemphatictino the nke form.)(In the southern tribes of Bechuanaland, particularly in the Union, a slightly&fierent form is used: the student should familiarise himself with the form usedir the areas where he will be working or living. The southern form, whichres taken as standard in the older books, owing to the fact that the south wascengelised and investigated before the north, is as follows:ga nhetla he rika, I shall not bry, ga re ketla re rlka, 'we .ga u ketla u rika, you (sing.) . . . ga lo ketla lo rlka, you .ga a hetla a rlka, he, she . . .ga ba hetla ba riha, they

.)

I{OTE these points:

(l) In the first person singular, the pronoun seerns to disappear, or rathern bc absorbed: the type for all other persons is, e.g., ga i nke u rlka, but in theftirg. it isga nke kc rlka. In the southern form the pronoun ke has becomen-ad becomes prefixed to the ketla; ga nhetla ke fika.(2) In the 3rd person singular, ga a ... generally elides into one syllable,#fi3 rs ga nke a rLha, or ga kethi q rDka. (See Lesson 4, I A.)(3) Notice that in this tense, the stem vowel of the verb does not change,ra did in the case of the negative of the Present tense, nor does the final a change

tc-

Wb can now add the remaining Classes of nouns. They all have theeingular prefix rno- in common, but the plurals are different.

[lO- ba-

nouns:

mOtho,

a person;

moftna, a man;mosadi, a woman;

batho,banna,basadi,

people, persons.men,women.

Lesson

24

This Class of nouns consists almost entire.ly of people, human agents; it

includes'the large number of nouns formed from verbsltoindicatedoer or agent.Just as English makes the nouns worker, maker, teacher, from the verbs work,make, teach,_ so Setswana forms modii, badii, (i.e., worker, workers,)from dira,to work or do or make; and so it forms moruti, baruti,.(teacher, teachers,)from

ruta, to teach.

rno.-rne- nouns:mohp6,

ariver-valley; metnpd

river_valleys.

'rhis class comprises a very wide.range of things with

no particurar characteristic in common.,riiili:ij:lilr'

mo-ma-nouns:

' 'itl. 't:!4.:.

moshu, mosu, a common

thorn-tree;

,llii r.,.di{li;,1

mashu, masu, thotn-trees, 6

'il;"),1tffiti, ''

'ri

'rhis class comprises the names of nearry a[ trees

and shrubs and prants..-It is.a,botanical,nouns.very striking and comprehensiveclass

Translate into Setswana:

people. 3 Will she not draw water ? + No, she will not draw.questions. 6 They .urite letters, b* ;;;iinot answer. 7 Do you (plu.) not want a plough ? g yo,* want aplough and oxen. 9 He wil not give the boy medicine.l0will shenot ask for food? 11 Ishe not going to eat (i.e., will henoteat)themeatl12 we shall walk. 13 I hear th. &ild..r, 'they are *.wriog questions.t4 No, they are reading books. 15 Do you .e" the tea"h", *'d the girlsIand the

They do not answer the

l:

Lesson

25

16 will you (plu') not destroy the wago.ns ? 17 I shall not give the boy abook' 18 we shall ask the men and the women. rg rhey are *orkirrgwith axes and knives. 20 Are they not taking riems ? 2l you (singjwill cut down (rima) the moshu-trees with an axe.' 22 Do you (plu.) not seethe herd-boy and the sheep I23 we don't want w4gons, we want houses.24 We heai the teacher, he is teaching the'children.Notes

t2

The Setswana for 'walk', is ,go by feet,, tsamaya ka ilinao.

metse is an irregula. ttoun, -meaning water; there is no singular. Butthere is a similar noun, ,notse, a town or village, which also has its plural metse.The difference is in tone; the tone-patt ern of metse (water) is low-high; that of(towns) is highJow.ngwana is another irregular-noun; the plural is bana, chir,Jren. It istreated as if it began with zo-, instead of ngw-.4'In Answer to a negative question,English, thi answer to a question like 'Do you not see the prough ?' canbe either 'Yes, I see it', or, 'No, I do not see it'.But in Tswana the 'yes' and the 'no' go the other way round. If the persorfbeing asked such a question does see the plough, he wilr ansv/er Nnyaa, ie b6nanogona (literally, 'No, I see the plough'). If on the other hand he does not seeit, he will answer Ee, ga he bone ,angoma (lit., 'yes, I do not see the plough').In a way, the Tswana is more logical than the Fnglish: the answerer, whengiving his initial Ee or Nnyaa either agrees with, or disagrees with, the negativei" the question just put to him. It is as if he said, seeing the plough, ,No.l"lbI-do-not not-see the plough'; or as if he said, not seeing anyprough, ,yes-I-donot-see the plough'.. After thus having, by his Ee or Nnyaa, agreed or disagreed with the questionett negative verb, he goes on to make the appropriate statement, just as ih. nrrglish speaker does. Bur, remember that this.second part, the statement, mayjust as well be omitted; and often is omitted. The answer may just be-the Eeor the Nnyaa- and then, if you are not careful, you will think he means the veryopposite of what he actually does mean.(This usage is exactly parallel to the refrain of an old music-hall song,'Yes! we have no bananas!')Among Batswana who are familiar with, and accustomed to, English, thischaracteristic Tswana usage is often dropped, and they answer a negative questionas an English speaker would.To a straightforward question, of coursee.g., A lo bdna m^goma? ,Doyou see the ploughs?'the answers are also straightforward: Ee, re bdna. ..or Nnyaa, ga re bone . .-.metse

5 molernd, rnelemd, literally means ,!ood'; as here, it also very often

means 'medicine'.0 The word moshu or lnosu iritroduces us to a dialectical difficulty.wiren the consonant s/sz is followed by the back vowels d, o, and. z, the southerntribes (roughly speaking) pronounce

it

sh; e.g., shdma, leshomd, rnoshu.

But

'

26

Lesson

the northern tiibes (again roughly speaking) pronounce it s; e.g., sitma, Ieso,nl,mnsu. The same sort of variation occurs with the allied consonant chltsh; thesouthern dialects say choln and chuba, the northern ones tshola and *huba.The practice adopted in this book is to print these variant words in boththeir forms for the first two times that they appear and thereafter to use s only.If, therefore, the student lives with ir tribe which uses the sD and cft sounds, heshould note that fact, and emploli these forms of the consonantal sound in all thevariable words.

]. nB TLAA.REKA DITHIPA. 2 LO TLAA REKA DITHIPA.

SUBJECTML PRONOUNS: NOUN

CLASSES

So far, all the sentences which we have been making in Setswana havebeen those in which a personal pronoun is the subjectI, you, he, etc.[t have not been using nouns as subjects of sentences, the-reason being that,tlt \r can do so, we must master the Subjectival Pronouns, or Subjectival Concords, appropriate to each type or Class of noun. lIn English, when a noun is the subject, the sentence is of the type, 'The'ntn sees the chief', or, 'The axe cuts well'. But in Tswana it is necessary to say'The man he sees the chief', or'The axe it cuts well'; and in each case the pronoun (he, it, etc.), has to correspond, or accord, or agree, with the prefix of thenoun it represents,

The subjectival pronouns for the Present and Future tenses

- we shallof the pronounsareas in the following table. (On the significance of the various Classes of nouns,see Wookey & Brown, pp. 19-26.)(The numbering of the Classes here is different from that in Wookey &Brown; it is also different from that now being used in Zulu & Sotho. On this,see that the Past tense necessitates a modification

see Appendix, Article 9. Any order is arbitrary. Students who wish to compare Tswana with other Bantu languages will probably prefer to use the classification set out in the Appendix: but for a proper study of Setswana as. a literarymedium, that classification must be adopted which best displays the nature andthe features of the language.)SubjectivalSubjectivalClassexamplepron., sing.examplepron., Plu.

is a collcctivc plLrraiClass II consists of the hinship-nouns; Class IVavery sma1l one; Clr:ss -=i 'meaning a forest of mosu-trees; Class VIIIa is athere are no 'participLs'|1r in sirrgilor, thc verbal-noun, the Infinitive, for -nvhichhave been stutiicri ii: Itswana. But all these behave as do the nounscourseofthelessons.(oncoliectives/o-anclma*secAppendix,Articlt:9,rr' *at all in tlic singr:There are tu,o Classes, II ancl V, rvhich have no prcfixNotealsothattherearet\\.ocolumnsofthcpronouns'inbothsingui:rr''in,thr: ertcn-'plural; for, just as l\'ie saw in the case of the per:sonal pronouusthc pronour'r"erb,follolling thePresent, Lcsson 3, tvhenever there is nothir-rglengthened b-v the zrddition of an a'

1 Dr. I)oke, in B. L. T., pp. 7'f, 179, 202, holcls it rvrong to apply the::n1 rpronoun'to these concords, ancl uscs thc term'sul-rjectival concorcl'. They,:; ccrtainly concordi:rl in lbrm; but cqually certainly they have the function-::.i value of pronouns, as that rvord is commonly unrlerstood; r'vords usecl in-::ircl of, and standing for, their respective nouns.*2 Notice that this word malome is a singular, although it looks as ifSeveral u.ords begin in ma- in the singular.- bcgan r'vith the plural prefix zaThere are other terms than this for 'uncle', as lve shall see.)3 T'he Morula ts the Sclerocarya caffra (0. B. Miller), a large wild treerich is fairly common in Bechuanaland from the latitude of Kanye northrvards.--rc fruit is edible, and also makes a drink.4 na is a verb r.vhich is not translatable by any one rvord in English; it- -:ans ito fall as rain does', so one can translate it by either of the verbs 'to rain'- 'to fall' according to the context.5 bolaya this u'ord does not only mean to kill; it is also used fortvound- animal or person.: or hurting anx Throughout this booir, the initials "B. L. T." staud for B.rNru LrxcursTrc Tnnrrlxby Dr. C. N1l. Doke, Longmans, Green & Co. Ltd., 1935. Although norv slightly,:-of-clate, it is very useful.

-,cr,

Lesson

30

which we shall study latcl' it

7 lela means to make any sort of squeaky or shrill noise: it.':=r.:used of the crying of human beings, or of animals and birds; of the noist -

Siame is a verbfor granted at present.

Perfect of siama

bell or an ungreased wagon-wheel.

If you t'ail to hnd in the Dictionary a rvord which begins l\iri,

or ba, then behead it and you $'i11 be left with the verb-stem from rvhich i:I

formed, rvhich will then supply the meaning. E.g., badisa thus beheaded 3:dis-, i.e,, the verb disa, to herd; so the noun means 'herdsmen'. ('fhe prar.|of forming nouns from verbs will be dealt r'vith in a later Lesson')e Remember that ya (co) appears in the old orthograph,v as ea, .:!..tsamaya as tsama.ea.ro tshimo is an irregular noun, with its plural masimo'11 A Tswana proverb in a simplified form; its import is that e\.rsome quarrel or case is not decided at the time, it will be broiight up at a ,date; it r.on't go bad, as meat does. lefoko, word, is used, especialiy ir:plural, in a collective sense, meaning nelvs' discussions'12 IJse tlisa for bring. There is another common vctb (lere), bnt i'.an irregularity rvhich makes it adviszrble to leave it till iater',,

,:

II

souNDS

There are tu,o ciosely allied sounds, consonants, which are heard iras:="worcls morafe (tribe, nation), atdbohuld (pasture, gtazing )' In the 1910bet'distinctionft,theletterthebyrepresentedorthography they'"vere both"':them being ignorecl. In the 1937 orthography they are represented by ./ =:,'respectively, although often the /r souncl is rvrongly written./'The souncls of these two consonants are quite distinct' The one lj::r',appears in a ryorcl such as mtsrafe is rvhat is knoi.vn in phonetic parlance -'i-'r:"''and'f'fair,(fat,theEnglishfromdifferentquite'bilabial f', and it isDoke, B' L' T', p' 136') l'rrvhich is the 'labiodental f'. (Or 'dento-1abia1',rLr

-''1

Tsrvana sound is produced by bringing the lips almost together, r'vithout the t-:':in the English sound the upper teeth are almost closed on the lon'er iip. lrr

;di::''bilabial f'r,vill therefore need some practice. (Do not practise it u'-ith a itr'iorhaveplobablyrvilllvhoorthography,1937theMotswana brought up onf')Englishthenon-Tswanaanduseauthentic sound altogether,In this booh the inaccurate symbol / is used. A better symbol is ti,. ;:E rograph fh which has been common in the B.P. for many years, and is used in,,eo:andletters),(twoaciigraphofbeing*uio.- But it has the disadvantagesconsonants.aspiratedothertheofanalogytheoting like an aspirated.fThe Southern and Eastern Tswana tribes, holvever, have alreadv i'-==,'

lost the true Tswana bilabial f , and use a consonant not far removed fro- llEnglish f. The student lvho wishes to develop a good pronunciation sho:;r=with this consonant, and study its nature in the area lvhere he is lir''-*"

"ur.frl

working.

t-.-.==

==:,

Lesson 7

3t

The other consonant, that hcard n bohulit or tn sehudi, is fairly adequately

:epresented by the letter h. (To 'drop one's aitchcs' may be possible, if reprerensible, in English; it is impossible in 'fswana.)There appears to be a definite phonic larv that, before the vowel zz the soundis always h, and never .f . Before other vowels the sound is generally, but not a1s'ays, /. (This does not always hold in Sekwena, however.)The sound nE, as in ngaka, doctor, will need some practice, but is not reallydifficult. It can be produced in English by isolating the'ng-a' in such a phrasethe words separatelyas 'sing a song'. Or if you say 'sing a carol'- not speakingand then cut olT the 'si-' and the '-rol', you are leftbut running them togetheru'ith '-ngaca-', which rvill be almost identical with the Tswana word ngaka.'I'he consonantal souqd s/2, as in sha, to burn, moshd, morning, has the samer-alue as in English. (The Afrikaans 'sj'.) (It has been called the 'hushingfricatir.e', to distinguish it from the sibilant 's' or 'hissing fricative'.) (Doke,Zuru Gneunten, p. 15, describes it as the "pre-palatal fricative", "pronouncetlmuch as in the linglish r'vord 'ship'." It is there represented by s/2.) In the1937 orthography it is represented by i.Tire consonantal sound lsl2, as heard it tslinto, field or garden, r'vill also ne;tlcare. It consists of two elements, one might say -- of the ls rvhich rve havcaiready learnecl, and of aspiration, represented by the ft. That is to say, it is t'rbe regarded and pronounced as ls ! h: it is not to be regardecl or pronouncec! asi."., as a sound like 'ch' in Iinglish 'church'.(an apparent alternative) t { sh

tird. 2 Ga he kope tird. 3 Ba a

THE II\IPERATIVE AND ITS NEGATIVI': AD\IERI}S

.THUS'AN]D 'HOW'

Cotrr*ands are expressed in Setswana very much as the1. arc in Englis:

although the negative commands are rather more diffrcult and complicatcIn severai cases there are duplicate forms, and the usage of these can only i.learnt by study of Setsrvana speech and prose.The simplest ancl commonest commands are of the type:leka !lekang

leka thata !lehang thata

'lhat is, thc verb-rvord is the

try harcl! (singular)

try hardl (plural)

sanle as in tire simple Prescnt

at least.(In tone,

1n Spc

r'hicli is all-irnportant, it may not be the snme; it may be ncar.

the same, or it nray be quite clifferent. I-et thc student listen to his Afric;,:teaclier or helpcr pronouncing the Lnperatit'es he u,urnts to use.)'lhc

complete Imperatir,e miry be set out thus (r'erb,

Singular

Duala re rikd

2 (r,) rdka

Plural

a re reheng

(r,) rdkang !

(n) u rikd !

(n) kt rekeng ! or lo r)ki

a ba riki !

ttailki!

The 'dualt is only usecl in first pers. plurerl, rvhen the speaker is referring :himself and thc one he is speaking to; e.g., a man may say to his fr-iencl, a r;tsanmyi ! 'Let's go arvayl'meaning only the trvo of thern.

Sequence, or series, of Irnperatives. 'lhe larv is, that rvhen rr numh.of commands follorv one another, the first one is of the A-form (see abo,,tabie) and the following ones are of the B-form. For example :

llisa selipi, u rimi setlhare;

bring an axe, cut dorvn a trcc

tsama))ang, lo g? metse,

go, (and) clrarv rvater, (ancl)

rvater the plants.

lo nosi tli.tlhare;

(ot . . . lo geng m.etse, lo noseng

ditlhare.)

This only applies in the second person, singular and plural, as it is in ti:,person alone that there are the two forms of Imperative. In the third perscsingular and plural, when commands (indirect) follorv each other, the a u-hi:,precedes the pronoun and verb is not repeated:

let him buy a book,

and study hard!let's go (two of us) and get medicrnelet them make bricks (and)

build a house!

When the subject noun is mentioned, it comes after that

in the third person, thus:

little a that intro.

duces the imperative phrase

a moruti a tsamayi !a badiri ba diri thata

let the teachcr go away I

let the workers work hard

Remember that this introductory a of the Imperative 3rd person is high

distinguished from the a which introduces a question, whichis lon' tone.

tone. It is thus

Negative Imperative ('do not buy', etc.).

Dual

Singular

I2 usekawariha!(or, se rCki !)3 a a se ka ariha!

a re

se

rdki

Plural

a re se reheng (riki)lo se ka lwa rika !

(or,

se rekeng !

a ha se ha ba rika !(or, a ba se rihi !)

(or,aaserihi!)

)iote that in these rather confusing negative forms, there is no ga, as therein the negative of the Present and the Future. Its place is taken by se,which is generally (not always) low tone. We shall find other cases in whichrnas

"r^-irmatory way as well as in the interrogative way:

how hard the tree isl

m such an example involves the use of the verb 'to

be', and will not be

used

Lesson I

31

The adverb of manner, tthust, is expressed in Setswana by 3ma"n* r:r.1+-:

according to the shade of meaning. These tu-o wordS are quitte ":11st:-

and the student should note carefully the difierence in meaning and :ir .-:''jaanahas the sensc of 'like this', rvhen one is, for example, sholving a:,,,iperson how to do something, or drar'r'ing attention to something close at 1,.tin this wayt, or, 'as I am dcing'.near him. It means 'thus' in the sense ofkwala jaana . . .

write like this . . . (shorn'ing how to do

::

jalo on the other hand has the sense of 'like that', u'hen the action refer:.to is not that of the speaker, and not near at hand, or is not to be imitated' I:'thus' in the sense of in that wayt, 'similar to that', etc.lo se ka lzua kwala

jalo,

do not (plu.) write

tln the same wayt, tas', tliket,

are expressed

like that.

by jaaka:

morttti,' I am w-riting as the teacher (writes).

no, do not write like that.hzuala jaana, jaaka ke kwala; w-rite like this, as I rn'rite.ke kztsala jaakannyaa,.se kwali

Lekang thata, basimane,

rxrncrsE

16

Translate into Setswana:

1 Do you (plu.) not hear the birds singing (lela) nicely?z 2 Do r'buy an .axe no\\r, sir, you will buy to-morrow. 3 The men will come ag-- to-night. 4 If you (sing") work like that, you will not get (see) money.Write (ptu.) letters to-day (now), the man rvill come to-morrow. 6 Br:::(sing.) water and milk and a pot. 7 If he speaks like the chief, will the peo: -,8 Cut the merit with the knife, mma. 9 Go, boys, look :,listen ? Ithe oxen. 10 Take (sing.) the boy, and look for the horses. Ll If r':"

Lesson I

35

i1ury;/ lfutea, you will hear the children reading. T

12 Let the teacher readf,tr ier.13 Will it not rain to-night ? (i; : rain) No, it won,t rain. 14'gl'd-byq teacher, we are going away to-day. 15 How wilr tngy r.ritJ r,o,rr.. iw[ en build like that ? 16 water ihe prants like this, rri as you see Imnflur lthem). z17 If we call the herd-boy, he will not answer. 1g Ipf,c,ighing, but how shall I sow seedt 19 Answer! (sing.)I win notask20 Do not (sing.) call the boys and girls, they are *-oikirrg. , ,

umr

urprhr

1 w

is a foreign word, transliterated

smmrttd the language, mostly from

- a cup. Many such words have

,Afrikaans.

2 no, mma, (plu.

bomma/, so frequently used in addressing.borra,m etact

people,

equivalent in this usage in English. The root meanings of-"orrrr.

umu "'u[rtl-rer' and 'mother', but they are usedwhen addressing young oi"old people.'l* =erer addresses people as banna, basadi, although th"]or*"r-""",";.;;;;tbur irscd to inferiors, or.in familiarand jocular speech.uuum{h

sala sentli, (lit., remain well), is the parting greeting of one going!o one who remains behind; the latter answers it by, tsarnaya senti|1gimdll : if addressed to more than one person, the greetingsur" ,ohig sentli, ;;ufim'nnrni

'www

senth.

4 Ie here, as often, means ,with,

3 trgzaanaka is ngzoana, child, with a suffix which has the force .my,of::ne'.11"(More fully in Lesson 10, I c.) The plural is not banaka, b.,tII as we shall find with other Kinship nouns, such as'm*'rywanaka- classilnna' Notealso, that when addressed to a child,

ttttt"tt:r-

mmm

the word is ngutanaka;

it is used of or about a child, it is ngwanakd. E.g.,

,M frfisd,

.Trorn r:t

'I

shall see my child to-morrow'.

letswai,

he tlaa bdna rrgwanaki

saltl former spelling was lecwai.

'singing',,.here, must be translated

by a present tense in Tswana:

verb. Note

an extended Present, even although no words may follow the

ilr,mr:r.rllv

the following examples

hc utlwa dindnyane; di a leta;

hc utlwa dindnyane di tela;

I hear the birds; they are singing.

I hear the birds singing.

The second is all but equivalent to 'I hear the singing of thebird.s'. So,[l, R%tence 16, 'as you see f watef', or, 'as you see me watering';simple, not

AND NEGATIVE: .I.HI] INFINI"TIVE

PERFECT TENSE,

It is.rvell to recall the exact connotation ofthis tense, the Perfect Indicative.As in English, it indicates an action which took place in past time, butrvhich is, in a way, not finished, in that its effect still persists. 'He has helpedme' may be said when the giving of the help has stopped; butthe effectof thehelp then given is still existent. (T'he Past Definite, or Past Historic, 'he helpedme', or 'he did help me', indicates an action u'hich rvas clone, completed, andfinished, at some point in the past.)A

re rehile, we have bought,

la rehile, you (plu.) . .

have not trought,

Notes on this tense

(1) Unlike the Present, there is only one affirmative form of the Perfect,rrhether there is an object following the verb or not; there is nothing corresponding to the 'extended'Present.

(2)

The verb-word itself, rika, has undergone a double change:

the ending -a has changed to -ile, andthe stem-vowel i has changed to e.

(u)(b)

(3) In the negative ofthe Perfect, the stem-vowel of the Present re-appears.Indeed the Neg. Perfect looks likega pius. theand may be memorised asPresent affirmative: i.e., ga plus Ae a rika.The main thing to note, however, is the change of ending, frotn a to ile.This is the most general way of forming the Perfect tense from the Present.But as we shall see, there are several others, which are not irregularities or exceptions, but are regular ways of forming the Perfect, for certain types of verbs,As for the stem-vowel- exactly as we saw (Lesson 4, I B) in the case of thenegative of the Present tense ._ this change only occurs when the. stem-vowelsi either.e.or d. Examples of this are these verbs;

38

Lessono a dira,o a leka,o a rima,o a batla,

he is working;he is trying;he is cutting-dovrn;he is looking-for;o a ldra, he is dreaming;o a roma, he is sending;o a ruta, he is teaching;

Ir

dirile,lekile,

he has worked.he has tried.o remile, he has cut-dolvn.o batlile, he has looked_for.o lorile, he has dreamed.o romile, he has sent.o rutile, he has taught.o

In English, there are two principal verbal forms lvhich

can be u-.t:

nouns; they are the Infinitive and the present partici

iciple. One cai ,either, 'to buy is pleasant', or, ,buying is pleasant,.But in setswana there is no present participre, a'dthe Infinitive is use:all such bases. Note the follorving types of usage:ke senka

go rdka,

ya go nosa ditlhare,ba tlaa tla go rdka ka nnsd,

gO rdka go siame,

go fora bafio ga go a siama,

I rvant to buy. (I seek to buy.)

go to water the plants.they rvill come to buy to-morronto buy is good (or right).to deceive people is not good.

Thus r,r-e have what amounts to another Class

ofthose list.ciass X in Lesson 7. The plurals, those rvhichhave the *o- pr"fi*, ur, grammatically the plurals ofno p,th1 Infinitive, w'hich in its naturebut they are verbal nouns rvhichin turn have no direct singurar,'u,so trrer.-,,,,r,

21. Re agile ruatlo maabane, jaanong re aga lorahd.

bosigo, re tlaa gol\ga

lutala thata.

1{

axnnclsn

18

Translate into Setswana:

1 Come and take (eat) porridge, boys. 2 I have written a letter (last)night. 3 Will you not send the boy with (ka) the letter to-day ? 4 Donot eat the meat, it has decayed. . 5 No, it has not rotted, it is all right (esiame). 6 Good-day ladies, how are you keeping ? 13 7 Good morning'sir, we are all right (tsoga sentli). 8 I am not well, but the chief is very ill.9 The teacher has taught the girls to write nicely. 10 Come quickly (plu.)and see the horses. 11 Don't come (sing.) to-morrow early in the morning,n The sacks have rotted, what shall wecome in the middle of the day. Ia1+ No,plough(Perfect) the garden the other day ?do ?1,3 Did you not15Thechiefhassenta manyesterday.gardensir, we ploughed (Perf.) thelikethat,will16Ifyou(sing.)buildgoats.to look for the.sheep and theItriedhard.triedwell,have17No,Ihavetobuildyou not spoil the wall ?18 My children are not well, I want to see the doctor. 19 Rain has not fallenlast night; perhaps (gongwe) it will fall to-day in the afternoon. 20 Don'tspeak (plu.) like that, the teacher will hear. 2l The women have beggedwater to cook food. 22 Will not the doctor come to give the childrenmedicine to drink ? (give to drink, nosa). 23 Have you (sing.) not deceived24 Let us not deceive people, let us (plu.) speak thetruth.the teacher again ?Notes

go siame is a very common expression meaning, it is right, it is good.

it is almost equivalent to, 'all right!') Pending fullergrar-amatip-al explanation later on; the student can take it that go is a Subjectivalpronoun here, and siame is the Perfect of the verb siama; the verb is used in thePerfect, therefore the negative Perfect, ga go a siama, means, it is not right.2 dwnlla, pfu. dumilang (lo dumlli, etc.), is a general greeting that can(Used by itself ,alone;

be used at any time of the day, meaning, good-day, good-morning, good-afternoon,

and so on. Good-night, however, as a parting greeting, is different- it is eitherrdbalasentli!which means, sleep well! (plu. rdbalang...) ot, bordkd!whichis anoun meaning sleep. (dunita also has the meaning 'believe'.)3 , tsoga is to rise up; hence, to'get up'in the morning; hence, it isused in the Perfect, ke tsogile, to indicate how one has got up, i.e., how, in whatstate of health, one is. ke tsogile, or ke tsogile sentli, meanq I am well; and thenegative Perfect, ga ke a tsoga, or ga ke a tsoga sentli, rrreans' I am not well. (Corir-

pare English, 'How do you do ?' and French, 'Comment vous porte"'vous ?')4 tshiga can be used either as an intransitive verb ('to laugh'), or as atransitive verb ('to laugh at'), with the thing laughed-at as the direct object.Here therefore it must be translated 'do not laugh at the girl'.5 madi, in form a plural, with no singular, means, blood: as a plural,(its singular ledi, a cotn) it means money.

40

Lesson

6 ka, among its several meanings, can ntean 'because, for, since , .7 maitseboya, afternnon, is also variously spelt tnaitseboa, maitsehowa.u oWo is to treat or to doctor; fadisa is to cure or make-better {lir.rneans to 'make cool'). Watch the distinction between these two verbs.e utlwa in Perfect may be either utlwile or utlule; zlszua similarlv,

have either utswile or utsule for Perfect.

t0

ol

Class

a ga o nhe... the o here, being the Subjectival concord or pronol:r

III noun, not the 3rd sing. personal pron., does not change lo a af-;

the negatir"e ga . , .ll selDl means,

nothing; take it on trust, for the present;

explanati..

later.

12 l{ote that rvhen one Future tense follorvs another, the tlaa of ti:Future is not repeated after the first verb, although the meaning is still a Futur:re tlaa ya go rima, re (tla) aga... Note this characteristic, for it appears Tmost tenses, (As in Imperative, Lesson tt, I B.)1314

T,OSSESSION: POSSESSIVE CONCORDS

ti

PRONOUNS

in one wayThe idea of possession or ownership is expressed in Sctsu'anairand"man's("lheEnglish'ofonly * as contrasted lvith the trvo ivaysrnd 'the hand of the man'.)seatla sa rrTonns' hand of man; i'e'' the man's hancl'rvorcls'mafoko a kgosi, rvords of chief ; i'e'' the chief'sknife'boy'sthei'e''thipa ya mosimane, knife of boy;

T.

AND

.lhe little worcl callerj a Possessive cnncord

rvhich seems t0 correspotldIt is dominatedexamples''rith the English '6f'is difierent in each of theseand it mus'possessed:iswhich.r1-the noun which precedes it, i.e.' by the thingConcordsPossessiveThenoun'agree or .o.r..por,d with the prefir of thatcase *'iththebetosaw\{eas,il"r.fore ch"nge rvith the difierent Classes, exactlythe Subjectival Pronouns.

Class IVa is unusual, except

the chief's t'ord;

the river valleY;

teacher's moruia;

in some such phrase

mafoho a kgosi'malwapa a mosadi'rrtdl'ztetse a ngwana'malemd a monna'

as losu htta Mababe' the mo-

magomoforest of the Mababe flats. Class Va, also uncommon' is of the tyPe,p. 34'*B',&inwplurals''collective* morafe, all the tribe's cattle. see a note onjamanyconcord,possessiveclass vIII has a very common alternative:=ople say lefoho ju kgosi.

for SocH"tx'q Gn'u{Ntln b1' Rev

has, in some tribes, the possessive concord 6a instead of "irlr.,i

are in the plural, it makes no difference to the p{r$r:,jrr:nounsbothagrees only with the preceding noun:whichstillconcord,Class

If

dikznald tsa

\t

basadi,

malwetse a

banna,

mnaJe

ya mafatshe, etc.

Note two things, which help to memorise these concords; (a), the vowei -'them all is -a; and (b), their consonants (if any), have some sort of agreeme!:-or concord, with the prefix of the noun to which they are attached. "fhis holceven for the semi-vowels, y and zc', which hide the full vowels e and o: in the o1d;:orthography these were written moruti Oa sekole, IOkwald IOa mosadi, mera.fe eeSetszaana, etc., r'vhich made the correspondence even more obvious.(Note however that the possessive concord for the di- class is not da, but lsa'

The Possessive Pronouns. Now, when the possessing a$ent is eri'"., when we want to express 'mY i ' ''his...','your...', etc., it is done like this:

(The last pronoun, bdni, is, in the south, 6dza.)

When the Possessive pronouns, as above, are used with any of the manitherthe kinship nounsnouns denoting family relationshipundergo a shortening, and are suffixed to, or incorporated into, the noun. (\\-thave had already ngwanaki, my child.) The commonest nouns of this typtare those for father and mother; others will be studied later'rra, (rara,

mmaalona, your mother'

(In the first and second plural, the forms yratttetsho and traweno, etc.t are sometime'found, instead of rraetsho, rraeno, etc')The plurals of these nouns are formed by prefixing bo-, thus:

borri,

my

bommi, my

fathers;

borraagwi, his

fathers; borraabd,

mothers; bommago, thy mothers;

their fathers.

bommaetsho, our mothers.

Lesson

+3

10

These ,kinship nouns" together with the names of some animals (like phokoji, jackal), and some birds (like nche, ostrich), form Class II' In the singularthlre-is no prefix, in the plural the prefix is bo-; and the pronouns and concordsthose of Class I' that is, they are personal ones'are the ,*rn"",('Father' and 'mother' are terms which are not confined' as they are infamilyEnglish, to actual progenitors; they often include guardians or other

*rrp".riorr; anyone wftJ is taking the place

of a parent'

Familiarity with the

l.ng.rug. will iispel any difficulty that this may seem to present')

just menNow, when the possessing agent is one of these kinship nounsmust betherenoun"tioned, or is the nam" o.-f u p""on, i'e', a 'Proper

following, or owner' noun'

inserted a 94 between the possessive concord and thebe confused withThis ga which is higi or high-mid in tone' must nottone'lowiswhichthe negatiie ga, found in Les*ont 4,6, and 9 already'sa !P. rri,dikgomo tsa ga rraetsho,bolwetse iwa ga mmi,

1 Some dialects make a distinction between

,here,, and.hu, ,if,. Th.fa,others use fa (i.e., bilabial 'f'), for both ,if, and ,here'.2 Notice that there are two nearly similar nouns (both come fr'm verilwala, to be iil)bolu:etse, malaetse, sickness; and. molwetse, balwetse, sic';

- molwetsi.)person. (Sometimes3 ituntila, to be glad; it is also used in giving thanks. (In this latte:meaning it is generally used in the Perfect tense, u'hich will be dealt with later,It comes lrom tlie same root as dumdlaa Remember that in consecutive Imperati'es, Setswana does not use tl :conjunctions ('and') rvhich English generally puts in.s Use tekgo,wa (or tekgoa) fir 'whiie'rnan,, at present: the words caalso be literallv translated (and often are), but our grammar cloes not go th::.length yet.

Lesson l0

45

67

'wife' and 'husband' are just mosadi and monna.

This word is variously spelt mpsa (northern B.P.), nt{a, or ntsa. Former spelling was nca, and some orthographies irave used (giving the Frenchvalue to 'j') ntja.e The jang? may come at end of sentence or immediatcly after the verb.g baya in the Imperative forms biyi, beyeng, instead of the bayi, ba1'engrvlrich one nrculd expect. Sometimcs indeed they are spelt Ddi and

kgosi le siame sentld.

+6

CONVERSATION

IN

TSWANA

The danger of a text-book on a language is that the stud"ent may depend i

much upon the book itself, and concentrate upon sentences which he can rc,,or write, to the neglect of the spoken language. No mistake could be more fat...It is absolutely necessary that the learner should be constantly training his ;by listening, and constantly practising his orvn speaking. Tsu,ana is tota-.unlike 'classical' languages, in that it is essentially a living spoken language, r.a body of literature. The study of tone has this aim in view, that the stude,,should be carefully listening to the spoken language from the beginning of :stud ies.

Conversation is of course difficult at ttre beginninq, especially with Batsrvr-,

other than one's teacher: for not much can be said within the lirnitccl vocabul;:at the student's command; nor do people ahvays take care to speak slowly a: distinctly and in short phrases. Common casy conversation is made up of sorts of grammatical constructions rvhich, to a learner, are puzzling and difficueven although the subjects of it may be the simplest and most ordinary thin.Even for a teacher it takes quite a lot of care and attention to put his thou:into such a form that the learner will be able to grasp it and to reply to it. Bprogress and success depend upon fighting one's way through these dificulti..

(1) It is most important to keep one's vocabulary in constant rcpair, ne-,.

losing a word that has once been learnt. The student should keep a specnote-book for u.ord lists, and con it frequently. He should also try to make 'nerv sentences of his own after every lesson, practising the newly learnt constru-.tions with the help of his formerly learnt rvords. A list of the r.vords learned .far is appended here, and the student could do r'vorse than give himself a thorou.test, to make sure that he has a complete mastery of this material.(2) Again, for the grammar, writing out paradigms or tables of ver:is very useful. The ne:moods and tenses, in all personsconstructionsmaking of such tables helps to impress them upon the memory; and every refeence to such a table, to verify some point, is rnore valuable than a reference :some table or lesson in the book,(3) Memorised idiomatic phrases, even if imperfectly understood frongrammar point of view, are very useful to enable one to converse with peop-.A short list is here given; they should be tone-marked carefully, so that tLwill be memorised in as perfect a form as possible. The grammar of them c;be ignored; it will be dealt with in due course. By the use of the questic:.(seld) se ke eng? (what is this thing)? a person can find out many new nour-.names of common objects: and by using a question of the type, go phahlla ke :reng ? (what does go phakila mean ?) he can find out the meaning of any u:

familiar verb.

FIF;bd

47leina Ia (ja) gago ke mangrrago ke mang, rra?mmago o kae ?

,'lly

)tItislaryrd

ga re itse hzla o ileng

allllt,

(4) wono Lrsrs so

gs.

Iht

lut

\OUNS:

teng,

FAR

answer, awl, axe, bag, bed, bird, blanket, book, boy, building,

hog, \r.*n,ecial

eupruc-

dsoough

'erbalmererefertce to

mmaeople.

t theycan

estion,nouns,

rkego

ry un-

we dontt know where she has gone.

cattle, chief, child, cupr day-before-yesterday, disease, doctor,

gir\'[uilr, utr\-ntsnnrg, \tNtt, ttltt, tn\{" ttt(' too\' toTtst'

ies.

ever

what is your name I

who is your father, sir Iwhere is your mother Iwhen will he (she) go to the lands Ido you know Setswana, mma II do not know it well.

MO'|ION AND LOCATION: PREPOSI'|IONS

"o"st'u"tionor(there are several of these), r,vhich, as in EnglishPonen! is the prepositionis a suffix which is added toLatin, precedes the noun: and the other componerrtcalled the 'Lncative' ending'the end of the nciun. 'lhis ending is sometimescattle-kraal'a re )ietry kwa lesakeng, lct us go to the,lhe .niotion to, is ctrnveyecl by the verb, in conjunction rvith the prepositir,nnoun'lnuu, atr| i.r'ith the -rrg sulfixed to thecauscd a change of vowel - the {inalhassuffixthisthatNote horveverxn e' A similar change takes piacevonel d of the worcl lesaka \as ciranged tothai i and lz $'henever this sulfix or ending isrvhen the {inal vorvel is any otherusirrg the comtnon prepositirlnto thc noun. F)runiples ttl illustrate this,acldctl

tnl,

are these :

I,'inal

von'el i,e,i,tl,,i,o,1t'

kr'tbi,me^e

(u'agon)'

tn koloing,

(u'ater)'

rto

seLiPd (axe)'

lesaka

(kraal)'

lokwald (book)'

ntlo

(house)'

teguPu (nrelon)'

in the rvagon'

metsing, in the 'lvater'

in the axe'in the kraal'in the book'nn ntlttng,2 in the house'nn lega\ung, in the melon'

mo selePeng,mo lesaheng,mo bhwalong,

'lne the conruronest' But'

These tlvo prcp<lsitions, hutu ztlrtl tno'

iu

con-

trasttoEnglishp'"pt''itit"tt'cachofthesecanindicateeither'to'trrthe tlvo is a dilli'from'; cither 'in ttl' or 'out t'f'"fhc distinctitln bettr'een(like 'to' antlmotionofdirectionoftheit is not at all a rlistinctioncult one'lhepreposition ftruaT;;;;t, but a clistinction of the amount of motion.ol clistance, ri,itlr regarcl to tlre speakerintlicates gerrerallv a con.siderable clcgrccof distlnce, rrnd vcry little, if an-v,amount,'r"^pr"p"ri ion inu i[ciicates a srnall'inside of" or 'outsicle of"positionrnotion. Hence it inai.ui.. often n,crelvor 'at', some thing or Piace'Sctsrvrlna'lhe 6nl.v $,ay to -a.t", this is irv noting carefully the authentic:

o nosa ditlhare mo.tshimong, he is watering prants

go into the school! (the teacher would

tswang mocome out of the house !fologa mo setrharingcome down from (or, outthila metse mo pitsengpour water into the pot!mosadi o apaya mo lolwa- the woman is cooking in

of) the treer

the

yard,.

Peng,ngzpana o

lela mo tlung, the child is crying in (inside) the house.

nhha dikgdli mo kgetsing, take the riems out of the bag.

sometimes, but not often, either ma or kwa can be correctry

used in the samecontext:

(u)(b)

ba rima ditrhare kwa sekgweng, they are cutting trees

in the forest.ba rirrta ditrhare mo sekgrteng, they are cuttinltrees in the forest.

But even in such a case as this, (1) would normally imply thatthe forest wasfar away from the speaker, and (2) would imply that tire.p"ut", was near, or even

actually in, the forest.

It is arguable that mo, kwa, etc., are not really ,prepositions,. They mighrbe called 'Locatives'. But it is admissible to use the term ,preposition,if oneremembers that these parts of speech are not exactlywhat Englist, prepositionsare, See e.g., Lesson 1,2, I B.

Translate into Setsu'ana:

1 It is raining, we nill sieep in the house. 2 Shall \\,e not see the children as they come out of school ?3 If the sun has set, I shall go home.Where will the herd-boys sleep ?5 'lhe wagons u'ill arrive at the cattleposts to-morrorv evening. 6 The lions arc destroying Maruapula's oxen a.the cattle-post" 7 Outspan (plu.) the oxen and let them go to drink at t1:.river. 8 My child, go to your mother and ask for food. 9 I like mother'.

porridge. 10 We are going home to Molepoloie on N,Ionday. 11 Th.

burningl Come out quickly! 12 Take the meat out of the pot, an:put the pot in the yard. 13 The men r.vill go to the kgotia to listen to th.news (mafoko). 74 Go into the house, and look for your medicine. 1:We shall go to plough at Manthe in spring. 16 Their children wiil not he;the grrls' songs. 17 Locusts are destroying our gardens, so what shall r.eat'? 18 f'he doctor will take your tooth out to-morrow morning. 13 1She has waited-for the wagon to come, but it is late (has delayed). 20 G(plu.) to Diile's mcther, and ask for her pots. Ia21 We are very sorry (utli,c.:botlhoko) because you (sing.) are going (will go) to Mafeking. t522 Wher.house is

shall rve go, and what shall we do

Notes

Notice that in every case, under the influence of this -zg ending, thfinal vowel becomes more close than it wasthe vowei diagram on p.i 1- or (seeit moves upwards: a becomes e (not, hou'ever,l), d becomes e, e becomes i;becomes o, o becomes z: and i and z, unable to 'move up' remain unchangec(See Appendix, Article 8, on vowel changes in Tswana.)2 ntlo, house, w-hen the locative ending is added, often in speech drop:its initial n- andbecomes tlang. (See Exercise 21, no. 11.)3 The word tshimo seems to vary in different tribes, from tshimo t.tshim6; but the locative seems to remain tshimong- it does not become tshimun:as one rvould expect from tshimo.a lolwapa is sometimes shortened to lwapa or, in some places, to lapa.5 kae, where, always comes after the verb; note also its tones, highmid. There is another Aae (sometimes spelt kaye or hahe), neaning 'how manl- ithe tones of which are the opposite pattern- low-high.s The syllabic n, m, r, zg, should be carefullysounded in all words wher.

Lesson4-

)r

ii'!i

V.,la

ri

dim23

te

11

51

they occur : e.g., monna is three syllables, not two : mo-(i)n-na, with the stress uponthe second-last, the syllabic z in this case. mma similarly is two syllables, asts ra; and bornnta and borra are each three syllables. Listen carefully; it isimportant to get accurate pronunciation of these common words. (See Lesson5, r A (3).)7 masimo when used in the locative frequently omits the locative ending-ng; the word legaeor gae does the same : ke ya gae, I amgoing home.8 tafole is another imported word (table), like hopi. (bojild, lit. eatingplace, is also used for a table.)9 makgowa or makgoa are 'r,vhite folk': and when a Motswana goes insearch of work outside the reserves or Protectorates, he is said to go, or to be,

kta

makgoeng.I

boiang is one of the few Tswana nouns which actually do end in a closed(Remember it-ng. The latter is not here a locative ending at

all.

s,vllable, i.e.,

is three syllables, not two.) When the locative ending has to be added to sucha rvord, e.g., 'in the grass', the word becomes either bojangnyeng, or bojangnye.11 siha is generally used with le, with. 'He will sue me' is, o tlaa sikale nna. The verb of course does not refer to European legal proceedings, but tothe laying of a complaint or charge before the Chief and his advisers in the publickgotla or tribal meeting place. But the one who brings the complaint can alsosav, he sekisa legodu, I bring proceedings against the thief.12 hula can mean, according to its tone-pattern alone, either to graze or

to shoot.

13

'to-morrow morning' is 'to-morrow

in

the mornitg'

mosong.

- ka mosd mo

14ls

Remember the difference between kopa (or ldpa) and botsa.

'Mafeking' is one of the many corruptions of African place-names:its proper form is Mafikeng. There were here some well-known rocks, maf.ka, sorhe place-name became 'at the rocks', kuta Mafikeng,

F'rom these last two we have two derived transitive verbs:

tsenya, p\t in, put into;

tsentsi, have put in.ntsha, take out, or put out; ntshilse, have taken (put) out.tsenya comes from tsina, and means literally to 'make to go i',; simrirntsha comes from tswa and means to 'make to go out', or 'make to come r--.r,

(These are 'Causative' forms of the verb.)

Note that none of these verbs forms its Perfect tense by adding -ile ta :,,,stem, like the verbs rve have used so far: tla and tswa. are irregular verbs in :",respect, but the others are types which are quite regular but which we have :j1.yet studied.

(2) The very common verb tla has a special usage in the exte'ded prer=indicative, i.e., when it is a simple unqualified statement. Instead of the i.tla, etc., which we should expect (Lesson 3), we have

,,,

tla, I am coming, re e tla, we are coming,

In the last Lesson we saw the use of kz.oa as a preposition standing befor.,,noun; but it can also be used without any noun following it, and then :means 'there', 'over there', etc.: ya hwa! go over there! ke tswa kzna, I comtrom yonder. if the hzoa is very much raised in tone it indicates increased d-*,tance -- 'far away over yonder'.Its opposite, in this sehse, is kwano, which means ,here,, in the sense :='to here', 'to this place': tla kztsano, rra! 'come here, sir!' (mo and rflo teng x+,tnono c4tr be left over at present.)

vowelssented by the letter / strongly dislikes being followed by either of the upper

ioru.

Now we have already seen that when the locative *ffix (-ng) is added to anoun, it always tends to change the final vowel in an 'upward' direction; andnouns ending in -/o or -/e, with ihat sufix, would end in -Iung or -ling respectively'But Tswana dislikes that lu- or /i- so strongly that the consonant itself tendsto resolve or change into another consonant which is very closely allied to it,but which has no repugnance to these closed upper vowels - i'e" into d'1This is the reason why a word like pelo, heart, is generally written, in the locative,these spelmo pedung; and why mmele, body, is similarlywritten mo mmeding;But thepronunciations.zlings seem to represent fairly accurately the actualofspellingstyleneitherProbablyspe-llings pelong ind *melrng are also found.changes')vowel(See Appendix, Article 8, oni* q"itJ

l-

".",rrui*.

'such as this of

I to d, are a feature of setswana.

a little dificult to master, butareThese 'permutations' of consonantsthe student should be on the look-out for them as he increases his vocabulary,noting their laws and conditions. For example, in the plurals of nouns ofChssJs yIT (lo- di,) ail. VilI(te- ma-) some permutations occur which are

Consonantal changes,

trpical.

(1) In Class VII,

(a)

Ie

is

amongst other changes, we have these:

a D in the singular changes to a p

lobdni, lamp, candle,

lobala, flat plain,

Dt

(b) , C in the singular

nt

changes to

Iogaga, cave,Iogong, piece of wood,

.I

(")

an

in the pluralmakes diPdni in the plural'makes dipala, in the Plural.

kg in the plural'

makes d'ikgaga in thq Plural.

makes dihgong in the Plural'

lorud,

changes to a th in the plural

something owned, makes dithud in the plural'

lorah6,

stone wall,

r in the singular

makes dithakd in the Plural.

Xhere are others, not very numerous or important (see W & B', p' 31), of whichaerhaps loleme, tongue, is the most important. The plural is diteme, tongues.ea

Q) In Class VIII

r in the plurallesapd, bone, makes marapb in the plural'lesama, cheek, makes malama in the plural'

Translate into Setsrvana:

1 The lions have entered the caves. 2 stand (pru.) here, ancl .the lion if it comes out of the cave. 3 Let the girls come out of the sclet them go into our house. 4 will you (si'g.) rvalh in the forest in the :_ness ?5 The chiefs ha'e set out this morning, thev have go'e to vlaf..6 women, take your water-pots and go to dralv $,ater at the wells. l(plu.) will pour water into the tank (tanka) in the co*rt-vard. g Nlolatll-.:people have left (corne out fro'-r) the iou,n, they ha'e go'e to the Aodi

(to the river of Aodi). 9 Come quichiy (to a boy) I I,m coming, mo:10 To-day I ha'e made a handle for (of) the axe. 11 Ilaven't thel- _.their houses r'vith bricks ?12 Do vou rike poiririge of mealies or (got,:,of mabili? 13 His gurns are (ha'e) srvollen'ery much. 14 The *,,have come to see the towns of the *hite people" 15 we ha'e milked our:(and) nou- we shali drink miik. 16 She is sorry (her heart is ...) hc-_(ka) her husband has gone far au,av to u'ork :rt vrvburg. tr17 \\rhat

you (sing.) taken out of mv bag ?

18 The minister has not preached (ta.:.well to-day; he rviii preach again in the afternoon.r2 lg rhe oxeirgone out (come out) of thi: r:attlt-kraals, and liave gonr to graze in tlre r:20 I do not see the duiker, I trrinrr (ke a bina) it has gone into (entt:

l, d and, r are three closely related consonants in many African ..

md: the French and German missionaries of Basutoland and theTransvaalwrote

it Modimo'fu Nalinn; and Batswana in modern times pronouncewhich constitute a subfewaveryofon"isa The word mmele (body)

dlrision of class

III,

the mo-'/ne- nouns. Its plural is mebele, which indicates

ffimoriginallythesingularismobele.Butasweshallseeinotherconnectionsformation of nouns from verbs'ffict-"; objlctival p-.ro,,,,', Lesson 16, andbut meb- is allowable'mm-;becomest *oo 29), an initiil mob- always.l",c,meaning.when,,alwayscomes(likekae?)attheendofthesentenie.examples' There is{F5* the tines of this word - high-low: see Tone-text;der s'ord. leng, meaning 'what rlgiment' (age-grade)' which has the opposite

itlaa

6goDipd-

)Acna

bba

flrhf,n, low-high.)

i tlaab ile

exceptionalmded Present tense, although other words fol1ow the verb; this is an1-2' onArticleAppendix'seecognition;ofverbstiemege, and is confined toffics rerbs.JiotealsointhisSentencethatconsecutiveFuturetensesdonotgenerallymcpat the tlaa after the first verb of the series'

aheabdnausedlikethismeans'.Ithink...,Notethatitistheex-

t Ra-

s See Lesson 5, Note 5.

6 This sentence shows a sort of appositional

shoot

fiool,

F'k-

iking.Youhegi's

riverrther

built

xrJ"'goatsecause

have

rught)

r haveralley.rtered)

d-day,

23 Ie light

r langmaries

rloun-

inversion which is fairly

mean 'where{mnmon; it is exactly equivalent to bail:isa ba ile kae. It does not?'hme they gone, O shePherdsTsetuld,achairofseat,comesfromverbduta;butoftenthewordtakes

Inn|rdi wa sekole, or, *rrch oftener, moruta-bana, i'e'' 'children-teacher"orthicharaoJ.s. the word nxorutintshi is used also; and the Tswana-isations the worduseffioa and mistirisi (mistress) are fairly common' The Bakgatla

npho

or mogokane for a teacher.

lThe

wo:ra phuthAgd,

from verb phuth\ga' to come together' means literally

word 'ecclesia'a.grthering, of people,"thus corresponding very closely to the Greekout")a'callinglit', originally'i,14fu tSt IO, +t;, an assembly or congregation Perfectthein13 Frequently, us in thi, ."urnpl", the second of two verbskobd,thNe assumes a Past tense form: you can say either manna o tsile o rekileblanket'thew nnwt o tsile a rika kobb, for, the man has come and bought

we saw in Lesson 9 that the Perfect is formed by changing the final -a

of the Present tense to -ile, accompanied in some cases by a change in thevowel. But this, although the commonest, is not by any means the only

wev in which Setswana verbs form their Perfects.

Taking first the verbs which end in *la, we find three difierent wavs in which

r*.

Perfect is formed.

-Ja

becomes

-dile.

tr'Iany two-syllable verbs ending in -/a (in the Present) form the Perfect by

ctaoging this into -dile, thus:

bala, read,kwala,

bdla,

becomes

badile in the Perfect-

write,

kztadile.

decay,

bodile.

This apparently irregular formation has the same explanation as the changemhich we found in last Lesson (12), rvhere what should be mmeling becomes mme&; ttrat is, the incompatibility of the consonatt I with either of the uppermels j'or zr. Here in this case of formation of the perfect tense, the -a woultlhccome-z%, therefore balashouldmake balile- but to avoid that -Ii- in the lvordffic onsonant changes to d, and we have badite.Some other common verbs which form their perfects in this way are

fila,

-Ia

becomes

gola, hdla, hula, jala, lela, mela.

-fse.

l:erbs of three or more syllables ending in -raform the perfect by changing

ilfldr-lc into -tse. But there are three distinct sub-divisions in this group.

Verbs ending in -ola make ,otsl in the perfecr:

make free, outspau oxen,

with a fer'v dissyllabic

becomes golotsi in the perfec

e.g., rola (take something

Hence, until the verbs are knorvn, one cannot tell in nhichrvay a particui:verb rn'ill form its Perfect simpiy by noticing that it ends in la-

,a/a

becomes

-ajle

or

-ej/e.

verbs cnding in -aya, of whicrr

in either of tll'o ways:

(1)

bolaya, kill,

r,ve

have had se'erar arready, form the perf.

becomes bol.aile in the perfect.

tsamaya, go away,

tsamaile.

(2) naya, give, becomes neile in the perfect.

baya,

place, put,

apaya,

beile.

cook,

apeile.

(The common verb tsaya, lake, is irregular; its perfect is tsere..)

Notice that rhe only diference in these two subdivisions is in thevo*..which precedes the -ileeither a or e. These two sets of verbs also fo'n tht :negative Present tense in a corresponding way:ga ke tsamaye,The

and gake holaye: but, ga ke rrc1te (or nee), ga.

lar.v therefore is

that verbs which

ke

beye, ga

ke

ape.,,

-aile in the perfect make _a:.

in the negative Present tense; and those rvhich make-eile in the p;rf; m;.,-eye or -ee in the negative present tense.

Itr AEnglish'

make

The object of an acti'e or transitive verb need not necessarily

be expresst_in full, by a noun, or a verb in the Infinitive: it may take,h"for,',

of a pronoun. such 'objectival pronouns' or ,bbjectival

ur,

concorc.

vary according to the class of the noun which they stand

for o. .epresent _ ,_is the case with the subjectivar pronouns (Lesson 7).They are, indeed, identic.in form with them, except in the case of the singulars of classesI and II, ar__these we shall leave aside for the present. The personalobjectival prorrou.,. _me, him, us, them, youwill be taken by themselves in u future

badisa ba bolaile dikgomo, the herdsmen have killed

she has cooked it

- i.e., the porridge.the man has felled the tree;he has felled it, i.e., the tree.

ftn)*

These Objectival pronouns or concords always come before the verb, as

in these above examples, r'hereas the full object (noun, etc.) always comesafter the verb. It arises from this fact that, in the case of the present tense, thei;tual rerb-word often ends the phrase or sentence, and hence is in the Extended::,rrn.

h.t)rrle

ke batla dikgomo,ke a di batla,

I am looking for tlie cattle.

I am looking for them.

But rvhen anything follows the verb, the Extended form is dropped;he di batla

fect

thata, I am looking

for them hard.

Other examples of this usage are as follows:

roka

mosese,

o e roka

sentli,

mesese ke e rokile,ga ke a e roka,

she is sewing a dress : o a o roka, she is sewing

she is sewing them (dresses, mesese) nicely.the dresses, I have sewed them.I have not sewed them.

it.

It rvill make things a little clearer, henceforth, if we write the extended Present:,ujunctively: the above phrases will then be, kea di batla, ga kea e roka, oa e roka,m-el

bogdbi mo mosong, mme legodu le bo utsule

rnasadi mo lonaung, mme o e bolaile ha

{ac,f}la ka mosd.8

-:====E=-

Lesso"n 13

60

nxnnctsr

26

Translate into Setswana:

fhe dog has bitten the driver's hand, because (ha) he has struck it.discr-rssions finished ? (lit., the words have they not . . .)3 .aowncrs of the n,ago' have lefi it in the road. ,f Didn't you (have you notsee the springbok (plu.) in the plains yesterdav I5 -fhe goatsAre not the

aie lost (h"

strayed), boys,straveo.),Doys' do not delay to go to seek them.them.6 The women ha'e plougi,.their fi-ids and have sorved mealies and kaffir-corn. 7 when did vouyou gerser :ietter ?I Call (sine.) your father quickiy, the boy has taken my things.'r'hc rnen have outspanned the oxen, and have cookedporridge. 10 T:..will eat it quickly, for the sun has set. 11 Don't (plu.) enter the house,::,child is asleep. 12 The woman has left her waterpot at the river. 13 S:will gt, to get (rake) it in the evening. lq Have you (sing.) not shot ducli ,u'ith my gu' ?15 where have the sick people gone ? 16 Their feet h:srvollen, foi-they have walked alot (thata). 17 Let them not give the teaci..

my books. 18 I *'ant (rata) to read them again. 19 where do

'i_friends come from ?20 Mogamiotsile has remained at home with his gran:.rnother, but his father and mother have gone arvay. zr If the oxen come :day, the ou,ner of the wagon wiil inspan i' the afternoon. 22 Get up ea.in the morning, girls, as you ha'e done to-day. 23 Her mother's melons h=.,finished, but mine have not finished. 2+ He has left his gun in the hou-.but it is not right to leave it thus. zs on Monday oneile (has) killed d. sn:ri:with Rabojang's stick, he struck (Perf.) it on the

noun, plu. 6om;-

7 kgogo or hoko is the general term for domestic fowls, cocks and her-.The former rvord is held to be authentic for south and East Batswana trib*(D. M. Ramoshoana); the latter is more general in B.p.Note that this is not an imported word from Engtish or Afrikaans: it occu:,in most of the Bantu languages (over 200) in one form or another, from the souti-,ern Sudan to the Cape Province of S.A. (See Appendix, Article 13.)e ilmila, rdbala and fila are all Initiative verbs; in the Infinitive c_Present tense they connote an initial action or movement, not a state, conditio:rrr position. timila is to go astray, so its Perfect means ,has gone astray', i.e.

Lesson

13

61

is astray, is lost. rdbala is to fall asleep, or to go to sleep; so its Perfect

'has gone asleep', i.e., is asleep, is sleeping. fila is to come to an end;

meansso the

Perfect means 'has come to an end', i.e., is finished.

e mong (sometimes spelt mung) plu. beng, is another word which ends in

verb 'to be' has several forms and functions in Setswana. In thLLesson we will deal only with two of these, the commonest forms, aniconfine ourselves to the Present tense.

A very comon usage is represented in the words, ke setlltare'it is a tree':

in the negative, 'it is not a tree', this becomes ga se setlhare. Here thes, represents the English 'it-is'. (It can also represent 'they-are', for thereAo plural form quite corresponding.) Notice also that the negative is ga se fc..i_o

ningular or plural:ke ditlhare, they are ftees; ga se ditlhare, they are not trees.(And note that the tone of this Ae is high, which distinguishes it in a simplrstatement from the Ae meaning 'I'. But remember that ke meaning'I' can alv,be high-tone when it follows the low-tone negative ga. The tone of the negatirtse, following the low-tone negative ga, is also high.)

Another form of the verb (16 fe'

the fact of someone being somethin:or not being somethingis expressed thus :ke

uo

moruti, I

moruti,moruti,

am a teacher; ga ke moruti, I am not a teacher.

you are . . .ga u morttti, you are not . . .he is a . . .ga a moruti, he is not , . .

But more often the third person, although rvith a very slight change of meacing, is ke ,noruti, and ga

baruti,lo baruti,re

ba

baruti,

se

moruti,

we are teachers; ga re baruti, we are not teachers.

you are . . .ga lo baruti, you are not . . .they are . . .ga ba baruti., they are not . . .

But, as in singular, the 3rd pers. plu. is more often ke baruti, or ga se baru:;In these forms, the personal subjectival pronouns or concords seem to i,ncorporate in themselves the significance of the verb,

Note the usage

Setswana).ke rnang

u mang

? who am I

he mango mang

of the Interrogative 'u'ho ?' (singular and plural differ

who are you I (sing.)

? who is it

who is .he I i.e.,

this person.

re bomang

rvho are we

::?

lo bomang? u,'ho are you ? (plu.)

ke bomang? who are they ?ba bamang

rvho are they

people.)

I (i.e.

thw;=:

Lesson

14

63

There are four distinct Demonstratives in Setswana, of which three

II

are

in common use.e, this sack; kgetse e-o, that sack beside you; hgetse eJe, that sackyonaer. Notice that these denote degrees of nearness or position relative toih" speuke, and person spoken to. The other form, not so common, is kgetsehgetse

e-nO, this very sack here.. it is not so much used, for generally kgetse e expresses'this here' with suftcient emphasis.These demonstrative"s (they are often regarded as pronouns, but are muchntlarer to adjectives both in sense and usage), correspond (like the pronouns andconcords) with the prefixes of the noun Classes.

thatClass this thatnear me near You Yonderyoo'tI yo 1YoleyooII yoYoleoleoooIII

Translate into Setswana;

1 John, do you see that wagon yonder ? 2 Yes, I see it, it is going(: in) the road. 3 Take this flour, and cook it ; and that meat ofyours, cook it.4 As you have received these letters, when will you replyto (answer) them ? 5 They have taken my lamps; where have they putthem ?6 Are theiy melons, these things ? 7 No, they are not melons.they are pumpkins. 8 Where are these girls of yours ? What are their names i('who' are their names). 9 My father has killed this duck, he has shot it withhis gun. 10 Mother will cook it to-morrow in her pot. 11 Let us (two)take these books, and our mother's, let us go to church, 12 Don't let thesheep and goats go into the forest (lit., the s. and g. let them not go . . .); theywill stray if they enter it.13 These oxen of Morolong's don't pull hard1+ I want (rata) to speak with those boys, they have struck this dog of mine15 He has left his whip at the cattle-post. 16 Will you (plu.) not sell ::this pumpkin ? I (would) like (rata) to buy it.17 The magistrate has gone :to hunt game (diphdldgdld) on these plains yonder. 18 Who is that womanalong

!i{

rf:,:i.,i

28

ill

She is my grandmother.The girl has come to sell these

there

2Q

mine. 22

19

This, is it not flour ? No, it is mabeleeggs. 21 This knife of John's is better

I It is goat's meat (flesh).

The teacher is standing beside the door, and calling the children.than (gaisa)

Do you like this meat

2:

Notest In the 1910 Orthography

yo, yoo, and yole rvere spelt as eo, eoud, ani =

=eole; they appear so still in Bible, Dictionary, etc.=2 This eo is two distinct vowel syllables.3 Note the way the tenses follorv each other here. One couid translate, =='they arrived . . . coming from Macheng.' But the idiomatic English translatioa Eis 'they arrived . . . from Macheng', In such a case, Tswana has to put in thrverb tsuta (come) before kzua Macheng; you cannot say ba gorogile . . . kwa Ma- ==cheng, that wouid mean nothing.4 lerumd, m.arum6, originally (and still) meaning a spear, is to-day ul* =used for a bullet or cartridge. (A spent cartridge-case is a 'paterone'.) Th==word segai (Zulu assegai) is also used for spear.

'Who is your name ?' not 'What is your name i :

morina (from verb rina, to rule or have authority) is commonly used Ein polite address to any superior, where we would say 'sir'. Apart from use is ==the vocative, as address to a superior, it is used as the designation of a chief:,E

Setswana eguivalent, 'N{orena, tla.'

lfn. two forms of the verb 'to be' which we had in Lesson 14 are realivnot authentic forms of that verb. They might be treated as ,border-linl

cases',

in that they imply rather than express the actual verb.

The real verb 'to be'

use, but

'to sit'

in

setswana is go.nna. It is not in very common

explains what now follor,vs. The verb also meansthis is perhaps its original meaning.

it should be noted

as

it

go nna motho,he tlaa nna moruti,ga nke ke nna moruti,he tlaa nna

fa,

to be

a person, a human being.

I shall be a teacher.I shall not be a teacherI shall sit here.

The Perfect of this nna is ntse, but it will be dealt with later. other cases ofthe use of nna can be seen from the following examples from the New Testament:. . . gore ba nni le Yesu, . . . thar they might be withJesus (Mk. 3: l4).' . . ba ne ba nna le Yesu, they had been (lit., they were) with Jesus (Acts...fogo hanna jalo,... if it can be so (I peter t: tZ!.

4: 13).

From this develops a set of forms which, apparently meaning originally ,tobe with . . .' have come to mean .to have . . .'

he na le thipa,I have a knife; I have got a knife.ga he na thipa,I have not a knife, or, f have no knife.baruti ba na le dikwald, the teachers have (have got) books.baruti ga ba na dikwald, the teachers have not got books.koloi e na le maoto,the wagon has wheels.ga e na maoto,it has no wheels, it has not got wheels.

Now, there is a common idiomatic usage, intermediate between the usages

mentioned in 'A' and 'B' above. when, instead of the subjectival pronouns' we have the impersonal pronoun go the phrase conveys the sense of ,thereis . . .' or ,there are . . .' Thus:.

there is a knife on the table.

although in form it looks like that. we will find this so-called ,impersooa!'

tl:l

Lesson 15

67

in other-connections. It is higher in tone than the go rvhich indicrtes

the Infinitive of a verb.

go

again

The Emphatic Pronouns. In addition to the subjectival and the com-

monobjectivalpronouns,thereareinSetswanaspeciallongerprono.

Iminal forms, for each ,roun-.lu.r, which are best called 'Emphatic Pronouns''They can be used either subjectivally, in apposition to the noun or pronoun whichexamples'is the subject of the verb, or objectivally. Their usage can be seen from

a lona loa tsamaya? rona re sala mo gae: Lte you going away ? Wetre staying at'lhehome. (Lit., are you you going away ? We we are staying at home')lana and the rona add emphasis to the /o and the re, without r'vhich the phrase

t'ould be more indefinite.

I want You. Burit is You I want'

senka;he senka wdna;u ilirang, wina?nna, ke bua jalo;

kea gu

-+

what are you doing, you

baruti bdni, ba buile ialo;

mme dni ga aa bua sepi;

The Personal emphatic pronouns are these

me,you (sing.),ini,or ina, he, him; she, her.nna,ztsina,It

I, I say so (I, for my part' say so)'

the teachers have spoken so;but as for him he has not said anything'

I,

Tona,lona,

we' us'You (Plu'),bdnd, or bdna, they, lhent

is these pronouns which are used with Ae,

it is, thus:

ke rona, it is u'e;nna, it is I;ke lona, it is You;you;it iske bdni, it is theY'she;ini it is he,

kehe wdna,he

(Compare these rvith the pronouns of possession, in Lesson 10)'

The emphatic pronouns for all the noun Classes are as follorvs:

ClassIIIIIIIV

Plural

Singular

morutinche

iniini

barutibonche

bdnibdni

molaPdmorula.

dnidni

melapd

ydni

IVa

VVa

VIVII

kgomo ydni

marulalorula

adni, dnlbni

dihgomo tsdnimagomo adni,6n)

selipi sdni, shdni diliPd

dihwaldlokwald ldni

tsdnitsdni

Lesson

68

VIII legapu ldni, jdni

VIIIa lolwapa tdniIX bolwetse jdniX go lema g6fu

1S

maga?u a6ni,6nimalztsapa adni, dni

malwetse adni, dni

malemd adil,

dni.

In the south, and amongst the Bakgatla, the final vowel of these pronounsgenerally aydna, Idna, etc.

a ke setlhare? ee, kea he ditlhare? ee, kennyaa, ga se tsdni;

sdni;

tsdni;

Is it a tree ? yes, it is (it).

are they trees ? yes, they are.no, they are not (trees). (Lit.,

rs

it is not them.i

Note that, r.vhen the prepositions are used with these pronouns * e.g..expressing 'to it', 'from them', etc.,the go must be inserted, as it is u,hei- (Lessonprepositions are used with proper nouns11, C) :a ngzuana o mo ntlung ? ee, o mo go ydni; Is the child

Translate into Setswana:

1 This girl will be a teacher, but I wil be a minister. (Lesson 12, Note 122 rf a person is sick he goes to the doetor" 3 The doctor heals peoplebecause he has medicines. 4 This medicine, it is no use. 5 If theporridge is ready, pour it into rhe plates (poteite).z 6 There are no tabiesor chairs. 7 What will the people sit on I (mo go eng?) g your fatherwill shoot a buck and make a sleeping-m at of (ka) its st in. ' s rake this sack

lili

Lesson

15

69

,i corn and sell it at the store. 10 come out of the kitchen, boys, I want:, cook. 11 The children have approached the wood, but they have not:ntered it'1'2 Run arvay (tsamaya) , boy, leave these things here. 13Sit here (plu.), I shali not forget to come again. 1r rhe rvater is boiling,'.'rat shall I do with it ? 1-5 Do you not hear the bell ringing? 16 We:rall not go to church to-day. 17 what are you (plu.) afraid of (tshaba) l-\ These rvorkmen rvill soon prepare the wheels of the wagon. 19 rhe-rildren are glad because there are no lessons this afternoon (rnitseboan.o). 20Lct the towls (dihgogo] go into the yard (Imperative). 21 I don't like sugar,rut she likes it very much. 22 Have you lorgotten (sing.) to pay for vour:ooks

rbsence of something; 'not a single thing'.)-kfae

Tswana generally inserts a possessive concord, as here; Iiterally,

for...', r.vhere English rvould say, ,rnoney to pay for...,5 metse (water) has a for its subjective pronoun, possessive concord,and.r:monstrative: metse (towns) has e.6 fa*a is to chop up wood, e"g., as firervood.7 tshipi means either iron or a piece of iro'; ditshipi, pieces or articlesr; iro'. ('lhe word has also come to mean 'sunday', since that was the day wheni:e 'iron' was struck the iron wagon-wheei axle or tyre that was hung on a::ee near the church, -and used as a bell on sundays to call people to church.)e di na le tt)rd (and similar phrases) are idioms meaning- 'be useful,, ,have. use'. so di na le tird ya eng? Lit., they have use of rvhat, means,whatuse are:::er. i' or 'what are thev for I' and ga di na tird means 'they are nogood, they.:e of no use'.':noney of to pay

tlogila is to 'leave (something) alone'; it does not mean 'leave, in the

::transitive sense of someone departing "* e.g., as a train, or a person ,leaving,

: : a certain destination.r0 ba na le dikgomo, lit., they have the oxen, i.e., with the oxen.I e robegile leoto is very like the English usage, 'the wagon has broken1

.',''heel'. one could also say, more explicitly but less idiomatically,..

leoto Ia

- t'.ti Ie robegile.

12

buhwa (Perfect budule, like that of tszoa) is an Initiative verb; used

: :ro.l it means to become fully cooked and ready for eating; used of fruit, etc.,: ::reans to become ripe so that it can be eaten. The perfect must be used to:-iicate 'is ready', 'is ripe'.

OBJECTIVAL PRONOUNS (2): APPLIED FORM oF VERB (1)

lr, Lesson 13 we saw that the objectival pronouns immediately precede

the verb; o bo apeile, etc. But we left for another Lesson the objectivalpronouns of the 1st and 2nd noun Classes.

Taking for example the verb tshiga, to laugh at, the Personal Objectivalpronouns (me, him, etc.) are as follows:oa

ntshiga,

gu tshiga,oa mo tshiga,oa

+\

z:;:oa

ba

he is laughing at mc.he is laugling at you (sing.).he is laughing at him or her.

w, lltshiga,

'i-

iil--r,x? 1l i'",, ro*

he is laughing at them.

The second personal pronoun, gu,'is pronounced go. It is written gz,

exactly as in the case of z (Lesson 1), to avoid confusionin this case with the- objectivalsimilarly sounded go of the Infinitive, and go which is thepronoun ofthe tenth noun-class. (See Appendix, Article 3.)These pronoqns are. all straightforward except in the case of the first personsingular. Here the pronoun (nna?) has become reduced to a syllabic n joi,ned tothe verb-word itself, as a prefixntshiga. (Recall ga nke (or nketta) ke riha

of Lesson

6.)

(1)action

When the emphasis resides in the objectival pronoun, and not in

of the verb itself, the emphatic pronouns are used :

the

ntshiga?are you laughing at megu tshiga;yes, I am laughing at you.BUTa u tshiga nna ?is it me you are laughing at- ee,ke tshiga wdna; yes, it's you I am laughing at.(2) It was noticed above that the nna of the first person objectival pronounua

ee, hea

had dissolved into a prefixed n-, the verb itself, tshiga, remaining unchanged.Verbs which commence in the consonants clt, j, k, n, and l, take the prefixed zwithout any change. For example:

chola:jalila:haila:nosa:tima:

oa nchola (ntshola),oa njalila

he receives me.he sows for me.

oa nkaila,

he instructs, directs, me.

oa nnosa,oa ntima,

he makes me to drink.he stints'me.

Lesson 16

72

in many cases the prefixed n- has an upsetting effect upon the verb:;it causes a change in the beginning of the verb, or necessitates a furtherinsertion. Taking firsi the case when the verb begins in a vowel, we find that

(1) But

a A has to be inserted between the pronominal prefix and the verb;

araba: oa nkaraba, he answers me'

iPila: oa nklP\h, he digs for me'oa nkitse, he knows me'itse: *dpila: oankdplla, he makes a song of me (lit', he sings me)'(* But rhe reflexive verbs, which also begin in

i, follow a difierent rule.) 2

(2)Whentheverbbeginsina&orp,then_itselfundergoesachange'becoming

al- instead; the 6 also changes to

bdna:patika:(3)

oaoa

mpatika,

he sees me'he persecutes (oppresses) me' a

when the verb begins with I or d, the latter consonants change to a t:

duila:leta:(4)

mPdna,

ap

ntuila,oa nteta,oa

he pays (rewards) me'

he waits for me'

When the verb begins in

(i'e',

the

fh or bilabial /)' ot g' or &' the

tbl^

lowing changes take Place:

fodisa:gaisa:humisa:

oa rt4hodisa, he heals me'

oa nkgaisa, he excels me'oa nkhumisa, he enriches me'

('the following verbs are of less usual occurrence, but show the three differenrinitial consonants with practically the same stem:

fod.isa:godisa:hudisa:

oaoa

mqhodisa, he heals me'

nhgodisa, he rears me'

oa nhhudisa, he makes me graze')

Noticethatverbsin/makeph,thoseingmakekg,andthoseinhmakeh*iwhen nouns are formed from verbs that begie,u*.

We shall find the

with these consonants.

"hung"s

(5)Whentheverbbeginsinrors,theprefixingoftheatakesplacethrrs:

senya:

he teaches me.he destroys me.

oa nthuta,oa ntshenya,l

As in ({iThat is to say the / changes,,to a th, attd the s changes to a tsh.whicbverbsfromformedarenounsabove, we shall find the same c(ttrg"t whenbegin with these consonants.

L,esson

73

16

hea mmdna, I see him (not, ke a mobdna) '

ba tlaa mmolaya, they will kill him (not, ba tlaa trlo balaya)

'

Note carefully the distinction, therefore, between ua mpolay4 you kili

The suffixing of :d/a to a verb-stem (changing to *etse in the Perfect

tense), broadens the meaning of the verb by adding the idea of the actionbeing donr: to or for a person, or place, or thing.This is called the 'Applied form' of the verb, (or, in Woornv & BnowN,

ff

p. 111, the 'Relative form'.) It is here introduced because it is very common andvery useful: BUT, the student must remember that there is much to he learntabout it which is not in this Lesson. Nor can the -ila be added to all verbs.Exan-rples of the usage of the Applied form of the verb are these:kea

I am writing to (or for) him.

mo kzoaldla,

they witl plough your field for You.

they work (do, make) for me; hence,they serve me.he has made a chair for me.

tshabila kwa nageng

u

nthlklli sukiri;

ExrncIsp

32

bosigo. 26

Lotlaajang, phakilita kwa benheling ka

mosd,

madi ke a.15

Translate into Setstvana:.

1 These men are working for me; they are my workers. 2 Thereare no lions at Kuruman nou,. 3 We have money, but we have no food.4 These boxes are no good i put them in the yard. 5 The Sebinas aresuing me (sekisa), because I took their oxen. 6 Where has my mother gone iI rvant her at once (quickly). 7 I don't lvant these things, they are no useto ..'e. 8 The \\romen refuse to be quiet, aithough I have spoken with them.9 Let me aione, I *'ant to play *ith my friends. 10 Father, I can't find(.,onr seeJ your herd-b.y; perhaps he has siipped away to the town.11 Thedoctor will treat me, and probably he will cure me.12 Tell me (plu.), mrfriends (ba-ga-etsho), have you not left them (the riems)at home ?13 Ther- 'iihave refused-to-give the herd-boy milk, but methey have not ."frr.JDo not (sing.) leave me here; rvhat shal I eat ?15 I have neither flour normeat; (and) rvhere shall I get milk? 16 The giris have heardme readinstheir names to you. 17 The lessons are finisheJ nor,v;f., pf"y.'"*';;The chief will receive me we[, for my father has rvritten",u r"it.. ,o nm.wMy child, put your money in the box. 20 what are the birdsmaking a noisef?r (lek) ? Perhaps there is a snake in that tree. zrrhere,s no snake; Idon't see it'22 The men have gone witrr the wagon to fell trees for me.far away in the veld' 23 Hns youi (sing.) mother refiyou, and gone overseas lNotes

dpila is to

itive

sing.

(dpa diatta is

to ciap one's hands;

dpa as an intrans-

is used of the throbbing of a sore head or other part

of the'erbcan be used also as a transitive verb, taking, fordirect object, either

body.)

dpitc

a thing,

such

as a song or hymn, or a person. In the latter

usage it means to make a song(generally a ribald or disrespectful one) aboutsomeonejust *rrr, i.in the second clause of Psarm 69 :12; theratter could "**1"".c

very welr be translated in

Tswana, matagzDa aa nkdpila. If it is desired toindicate trr" .irrgirrg of songs tocrr for- a person' the Applied form of dpila(or the doubre Appiii iorm of 6pa,nrust be used, dpllila; ba mo dpilila dipina, they singhim .ong*.2 I' the case of a ferv verbs beginning in z- whichare Reflexive in formbut are used in a transitive sense, the first plrson singularobjective pronoun

is inserted

afterthe initial i-,

ther.

z-

i,

no A, thus: ikanyais to trust; Daa

inkanya is, they trust me. so ichwarila or itshwarilaisto forgive; oa intshwarirais, he forgives me. (The Reflexive verbs are dealt with3 The substitution of m for n before b and. p is ina iesson 45.)natural one, since rziand np are awkward to pronounce. The same thinghappensand.

in Engrish. Fo:

example, following Latin, generalry through Frenchl

the' prefix'into' or 'not') when it precedes a stem beginning in b or p,.hurrg..

tn* (meaninrto ra.. imbibe.

imbrue: impede, impenitent, lmperf"ct, impolitic, imprecation, etc.

compel, complain, compress, compromise, etc' Again, the common

(cp. thesa"on place-rru-" pr"fi* 'dun-' meaning originally a hill orrnoundDunlop,it"l';,Dundas,,"hich is seen in the familiar names Dundee,ArabicDumbarton'Dunoon, Dunstable, Dunstan, Dunster, becomes 'dum-' before a'b';in spelling if not in proDumbuck, etc.; although one also getsAnglo-

kwa moseja has come to mean 'overseas''

e The verb tima has two distinct meanings. (1)

It

can be used of fire,

flame,candle,etc.,transitively,w-iththesenseofextinguishing;usekawaof thetima moleld/ do not put the fire out; and it can be used intransitivelytomeansItalso(2)out!flame itself, a moleld o se timil let the fire not gootherorfoodgenerallystint, or deny to, or keep someone short of something;they starve me.necessities of life: bantima dij6, they don't give me food, i.e.,to someopposedaseat,to keep or use or./a means to give someone something'thirrgis niila'latterthatgirr"r-, iemporarily or merely-'handed to' someone a moreimplysometimestt"re ip"ptiea form o;f niya. (niila, hou.ever, can alsopermanent giving than merely handing to.)

botita is a simple form of the verb; it is not, as it might seem' an

Applied form (from boli)' It means tell, relate, etc', and can take a directouj..t; o bolila mafoko, he is telling or recounting new's. To express',a tellinghe isto anyone, the Appiied form of bolila .,'..st be used - o ba bolilila mafoko,hempoleletse,ohim;telling,lling them the news. (so baa mmolilila, they are1

irregular plural' mabdgo')

See Lesson 11, Note 11'

Lesson

76

16

15 phakila, Iike bolila, is a

simple verb, not an Applied form, and

means to get up early in the morning. Hence the Applied form, phakilila, meansto get up early for or to somethitg: go phakllila kwa sekoleng is to get up early(and go) to school, i.e., to go very early to school.t6 ntesa ke tsarnayi, lit., 'leave me alone that I may go away'. If thesentence had been addressed to several people, it would have been ntesang ...But it is only in the case of the shortened first person objectival pronoun, z orm, that these A-forms (see Lesson 8, I A) of the Imperative are used. Whenany other objectival pronouns are used, the longer or B-forms, ending in thechara.cteristic -i or *eng, must be used. Study the following examples andmemorise the usage:

nthusi; help me. (Addressed to one person.)

Thus, if sentence 2 had been addressed by one person to several, it would

have been either ntesang ke tsamayi or Io ntesi ke tsamayi. If it had been spokenby several people to one, it would have been either re lesi re tsamayD or u re lesirc tsamayi: and if it had been spoken by several people to several people, it wouldhave been either re lesmg re tsamayC or lo re leseng re tsamayi.But in the case of the reflexive verbs, e.g., itshwardla, to f.orgive, the Aforms of the Imperative are never used; never intshntarila, forgive me, butintshzparili.

hold of' makes tshwerel

siama, be good or right, makes siame;

pagama (palama) , climb up, makes pagame (palame).

(See also Positional verbs, Lesson 48.)

The Applied forms of these verbs will be studied later (Lesson 35); \1-emay simply note at this stage, that the types noted above (except I, D) makethe Applied form by changing their endings to -setsa, -tsetsa, -letsa, or *nyetsa.These will not be used in the exercises until after Lesson 35.The following very common verbs are irregular in that they end in an -einstead of the usual -a. The negative Present, ending as it does in an-e, is the same as the positive or affirmative.

il

/ere

(Perf.

lerile), to bring.

lere metse, rra!

ke tlaa lere metse,ga ke lere sepi,

bring some water!

I'll bring some water.I am not bringing anything.

ke lerile metse,ga kea lere metse,

II

have brought water.

have not brought water.

In its Applied form lere seems to follow the types mentioned in I A, B' aniC above, but the irregularity of its ending persists there too; the Applied forrcis leretse (bring to or for), not leretsa; with its Perfect tense lereditse. It is alvord in common use.

I shall bring (for, to,) you some water.

metse, I have brought him some water'

ke tlaa gu leretse metse,

ke mo lereditseu se ka usa nteretse metse

don't bring me any u'ater!

(The 'some' and 'any' are necessitated by the English idiom, but not by theSetswana usage.)

ifse

(Perf.

dsi/e), to know.

oa itse,kea mo itse,ga ke itse,

he knows.

a loa nhitse?

do you (plu.) know me I

they know him well.

ba mo itse smtli,

I know him (her).

I don't know.

The Perfect itsile is not common; an example is

Applied form is itsetse, and is rare.

re

in lohn 17:25,

The

(Perf. rrTe), to saY.

This verb is commonly employed in conjunction with its Applied form, rata(Perf . reile), to say to or tell' Study the following usages:ke re . .." . . . I say to you . . . (Mathaio(I.e., two consecutive Present tenses; 'I say to you,

". . . ke lo raya,

: 22).say ..

.')

lililrr

Lesson 17'Jaaka ke lo reile, ka re

.. ." as I have said to you, saying . . .

(A Perfect tense followed by a Narrative)o tftheile are..." he (has) said to me... (2 Bakor. 12: 9). . . ba mo raya, bare .,.". . . theysaid to him. . .(two Narrative tenses following a preceding Past or Perfect tense )But re is also used by itself,ua reng ?what are you saying ? (or, r.vhat do you sayga ke re se1ti, I am not saying anything.o ile a reng? what did he say I(But, o gu reile a reng? rvhat did he say to you ?)ba rialo (contraction for re jalo), they say so.

(Look up also, e.g., Psalm

1 and Luke 23: 3, 4,

5,

?)

22, 30)

(Note. The student should not worry about these diltrculties of sequencesof tenses here; they had to be used to shor,v the very common idiomatic usagewith regard to re and raya.)EXERCISE

Translate into Setswana:

1 Your son has brought me my sleeping-mat, and put it in the hut. 2

Run to your father, my boy, and ask him about (kaga) this thing. 3 Willyou (sing.) not bring me your books ? 'l I do not understand these discussions(kgang). 5 The horse has run a\ ray from its master, and fled to the plains.6 I do not know if he will conquer them. 7 Take your paper and pencil

Lesson I7

80

('petldldtd), and write to your mother. 8 The men are greeting you: do ,vo9 I too have greeted them, but I don't know where they com.know them ?from. (Lit., 'don't know that (go re) they come from where'.) 10 Cheer u:(be comforted) ; the sun is burnin g (lela or fisa), but it will set ; night rvill com.11 He (has) answered his father (saying), I have not taken your axe. 12 li-.

son has told me that he has no boots ('that', go re). 13 The rvhite anr(motlhwa) have eaten the reeds, so the house has fallen (wa, Perf. oli) .7+ Dvou not know me, John ? Come here and shake-hands-with-me (dumedisa) .2 t'Do not turn your back on me (hularila), I want to be your friend. 16 Th.other day the driver refused money (Perf.), he said to me (Perf.) he wants an or17 Do not make (raise) a noise, you boys ! 18 I have seen his daughter =:the well this afternoon. 19 Take off (pI,t.) (rola) your shoes if you enter tLhouse, for (ka) the children are asleep. 20 Do you (sing.) say you r'vill bea:21 Yes, I say so, because I have beaten the boys at schoo.me (gaisa) |22 He has dnne me much harm (patika) , but now I have forgiven him.Notes

One would expect tt reng? here, but the usual phrase is ua reng? (etcseems to prefer ha to ke, etc., even in the Present tense, and or.never gets the extended Present, for the reason that this verb, in its nature, mu-.:ahvays have an object or extension.2 dumedisa is the Causative fbrm of dumila for fuller treatment -.this verbal form see Lesson 36.3 moru)a, son, and morwadia, daughter, can be prefixed to a person'sname, just like mma ar'd rua (Lesson 10)" With the singular possessives the,.appear as follows:

'fhe verb re

morz.oaaki, my son;

morwao,morwawi,

son;his, her, son;thy

norzoadiahi, my daughter.

morwadio,morwadii,

thy daughter.his, her, daughter.

Irr the vocative morwaaki and rnorwadiaki are ntorwaaka and morzuadiaka'l'fre plurais are bornorwa and bomorwadia, etc., although barwa and barzlatii;are also found"

nyatsa means to despise, and can indicate either the silent despising c:a person in one's mind, or the vocal imputing of blame to that person; the upbraiding or reproving of him.5 gana, refuse, can be used with the Infrnitive, as here, of a person refu.ing to do something; it is also used with Aa (see sentence 7) and an object, meanin:refuse to give, or withhold. The ka is then untranslatable in English, unless yo'stretclr it to mean 'with' -- e.g., o ganni ka nkgzlana might be put 'she refusec'to-part with the-water-pot'.6 adima means either to borrow or to lend, according to the context.t go re here (lit. 'to say') means'that . . .': it is generally written in turvords when what follows is (as here) a statement in the Indicative mood; whe:it is a Subjunctive (e.g., he came that he might see) it is generally written as or::

I 'l.n" Past-indefinite, or Imperfect,

tense, indicates an action which ri.,continuously going on, or was being frequently repeated, at some time -:the past. It is very frequently used, also, in connection with the Past-defini:.tense, to indicate some continuous action rvhich i,vas taking place at the time n-hr:'some other definite action took place: e.g., 'I was sewing l,vhen she entereithe room.' (The translation r:f such sentences ivill be delaved until next Lesso:when the Past-definite rvill be studied.) I

rika I was buying, ke ne ke sa reke, I rvas not buying.

rika, you werc buyirrg, u no u sa reke, you were not . .onaa sareke, hervasnot...onaariha, hervas...re ne re sa rehe, we were not . ,re ne re rika, we were , . .lo no lo sa reke, you were not . .lo no lo riha, you were . . .ba n.e ba sa reke, they were not . .ba ne ba rika, they were . . .ke ne ke

u no u

The verbs for 'being' and 'having' use this tense in preference to the P..(see next Lesson).

di gdga koloi sentli.

EXERCISE

36

Translate into Setswana:

The doctor was trying to heal the child, but the sickness was very severe2 Go (plu.) to him, and say to him, "The chief is calling you."3 This year we will not plough, for there is no rain. 4 We were looking forour cattle far away in the veld. 5 Is it far to the cattle-post ? No, it's not far,it's quite near. 6 Have you (plu.) not brought me the money-box ? 7 : We8 As thehave brought it to him, but he has taken the money out of it.7

(thata)

boys were reading, the girls were

I,:

=====:

singing. 9

Last year the grass was growing

nicely, (and) the cattle were finding (bdna) pastute' 10 Now the grass is(has) burnt up (Perf.); it won't grow (use tlhoga) again'this year. 11 The12 I saw (Perf')\l'omen had their sunshades, but the girls had no sunshades '13your son as he was going along (in) the road with his dog. (. . . a na le . . .)-lre you a school-teacher, sir ? No, I am the magistrate's clerk. l+ She wasrunning to school with her father. 15 I was only a boy, I did not know16 My horse has died in the night. 17(Past Indefinite) anything (sefu).

Lesson

84

18

is not right to annoy your mother so. 18 Sir, my money is finished (Perf.).has refused to lend me money again. 20 Where do theseoxen corrie {rom ? He had no oxen last year. 21 There was a snake in thegrass, (and) it has bitten me. 22 There was no time (lobaka) to go to the storeto gct shoes for him. 23 He (emph. pron.) and his wife were not Christiansat that time. I

It

19 VIy father

Notes

Woor<py & Bnor,vN (Grammar, p. 92) cali this tense the Imperfect:Doke, in B. L. T., p, 122, uses the term 'Past Continuous'. The word 'continuous',however, is (in Tswana at least) much more accurate and more suitable as a description of the tenses or moods which specifically denote non-stop action, and

which do so more explicitly than does this Imperfect or Past Indefinite.

l,essons 3ti and 39 in this book.)

(Sec

Actualiy, the tense now being studied is not much used in Setswana, becausethese other verbal forms are generally preferred instead.2 mokgwa is a word with rather a wide meaning; it means a manner orway of life or of action, or a personal characteristic or idiosyncracy. used rvith-

custom or trait of character.3 ana is often prefixed to an interrogative sentence, and often shortenedto uu. It can also be used enclitically at the end of such a sentence, although inthat case it has a slightly different force.4 ngz.uaga, year, has its plural either dingwaga or dinyaga. In the singular ittakes the pronouns and concords of class III, as if it began in the rao- prefui.There are several derivative nouns, meaning 'last year', 'next year', etc.; ngdgdtais one of these.5 tsatsi, i.e., letsatsi with prefix omitted; fairly common.a kDriki, from Afrikaans 'kerk'. The word is used both for a churchbuiiding and for a denomination. The Tswana term ntlo ya thutd, lit. house o!teaching, can also be used.7 Remember that 'take out' and 'take' are difierent verbs in Tswana.8 'Christian' is modumedi (dumila, to believe or agree), a believer. Thcword Moheresele is also used. A non-Christian is a motho filaa Just-a- i.e.,person', mereiy a human being: a penetrating and illuminatingdescriptioniThe Tswana-isation moheitene (heathen) is also in use. (The noun tumild mean:faith or belief.)

PAST-DEFINITE: NARRA.|IVE PAST: PERMISSIVE AND

EXIGENT IMPERATIVES

I A ttr"

Past-definite (sometimes called the Past Historic) indicates a defi-ri:-'or finite action which was done bnd completed at a point of time now Pa--T^Lesson 9.)(Contrast the meaning of the Perfect tenseke ne ka rika,

indefinite. This is the only thing rvhich distinguishes the two tenses in the afl-mative. But the negatives of the tenses are quite different. Note also the dif:rences between the pronouns in the negative of the Past-definite; i.e., between i:;ua, and loa and the ka, wa, and lwa. This distinction is seen even more cle-*in such cases as the bo- and di- nouns: bolwetse ga boa ka iwa fila, the ilbt:xdid not end; dikgomo ga dia ka tsa gdga, the oxen did not pull.

fa, ka, etc., there is another form of the negative of this tense; --lstudent should note its existence, although ra'e shall not use it muci, =this stage. In this, se takes the place of ga as the negativing element.you did not buy; but,ga loa ka lwa rika,rika,if you did not buy.(orkalzraha)losefa(Not, /a ga loa ka lwa rika: that could be said only if the./a meant'here'-

kfter

In a continuous narrative, employing a series ol verbs denoting ac+-lr

that took place in the past one after another, the so-called Narrative :r,ia'is used, a shortened form of the Past-definite. This usage is very commol The thief left his house at night, *m=legodu le ne la tsll)a mo tlung ya linzi boto the store, got in by the rtind.-e=tsinakayabentleling,lalakznasigo,fene-

setere, la utswa dilwana, la ngwiglla kwa

gae mo lefifing . . .

stole some things, and sneaked ;*-m,'

home in the darkness . . .

se ka a diiga; a ruTna-ruma atsaya paka ya gagwi, a ya go e apara."

smiled and took her dress, and rres:H.

(Padiso 2117, foot.)

put it on.

"Lengau a

The Leopard did not delay; ljr ==

Ih1I

lLesson 19

87

Notice that the Narrative tense pronouns all exhibit the

-a,

tsa, etc.

vowel

- a, sd,

There are two other forms of the Imperative in fairly common use.The first is the Permissive rmperative. Its for'ce is that of a requestto be allowed or permitted to do something.

ama he bdni mma ke uttzoi !

qtma ke gu thusi, or, u nmi ke gu thusd_

wmang (lo mmi) ke tsamayi !

"'u mmi ke bui le batho ba" (Ditird 2I: 39),

let me see! let me hear!

al,low me to help you !let me go away!allow me to speak to thes people.

Actually this is not a true Imperative, in regard to the main verb; only the'umo or mmi, etc., is the Imperative, and the main verb is in the subjunctive. Theliteral translation is, 'permit me that r may see', etc. (For the subjunctive,see

Lesson 26.)

The Exigent Imperative.

a u ko u mpolilili

rlo) ho lo reetseng, basimane !

"eu ! a u ko u nthuti, rnma!', (pad. 2 l9ltop. )

do please tell me Iwill you listen, you boys ! |

oh! do teach me, madam!

This has in the past been called the,polite'Imperative (W. & 8., p. 12If)The name is a mistaken one, for the general import of the form is thator i-p"tient or exigent request, almost always with the suggestion that the personaddres-

sed is refusing wilfutly to accede to the request, or is at least reluctant

to grantThe form is not properly used to superiors; and the usage in the Tswana1tBible, rvhere it is frequently (especially in the psalms) used in" address to God,is-quite wrong and quite improper: although it has crept into thechurch languageof many Batswana. It is true that it can often be iranslated by a .please, -_'rrut notthat of mere politeness. It is, for example, as when an exasperatedparent might say to a child,'will you please do exactly asI tell you, at once!,The setswana word which most nearly corresponds to ,please', as an urgent':r pleading request, is tswii-tswiil used with the ordinary I*p.rutirr"; but it isnot very commonly in use.(In the first and third persons of the Exigent Imperative the ho becomesie, and the phrase becomes, a nhe ke b6ni! (Se,e, e.g., padis| 2f112, top;ankehc mmdni mind ! which is difficult to transrate into English efiectively.)Thisusage will be left till later, as far as the Exercises are concerned.This bxigentImperative is more fully dealt with in Lesson 50.

Translate into Setswana:

1 When rvill you (plu.) look for your books and pencils ? 2 He istelling lies, he did not see the chief at all. 3 Wild animals live in the forest4 Please (sing.) stand (Applied form) over thereand on the plains. I tdon't stand here. 5 Whose jacket is this ? I did not see it here this morning6 Last year we went to Gaberones, (then) we went on (fetila) to Molepolole.we saw our friend, (and) returned (boila) home. 7 When (fa)'we got to thehouse, we found the woman in the back-yard, cooking porridge in her pot. SWe said to her, "Please give us some water to drink." 12 9 She said to u,*."Sitdownhere"; soshe went into the house and brought us some food and milk"10 Let me see if (fa) your shoes are the same as her's. 11 No, they are notthe same; yours are getting old, but mine are worn out, they are no use no\r,12 It was not Tebogo's fault, because she did not hear me properly. 1-1He will come back here quickly, for he is on horseback. 1,+ My motherdo listen to me! I said to her, "Don't take these fish, we want them." f-iBut she refused to do so: she put the fish in her basket and wentoutofthehouse,and went home. 16 Let me read, teacher! I know (how) to read nicelr17 Will you please be quiet (plu.)! I am trying to lister tc this child. 18Is there any milk ? Where (lvould it come) from ? It won't be available, for thereare no cattle here. 19 There are only wild beasts and game in this countrr20 The hunter did not catch (tshwara) the ostrich, although he was on horseback; the ostrich ran away from (outran) his horse.Notes

The first pronoun is frequently omitted in the Exigent Imperatire:

e.g., a ko lo reetseng, instead of the full a lo ko lo reetseng.

tshwana (chznana) (be similar, like, the same as) can be used bot!intransitively and transitively: when the latter, it is followed by le; motho yo ttshwana le motho yole, this man is like that maft; ga ba tshzoane, they are not alike-

Lesst,rt I

89

3 6nala, an Initiative verb; to become, or gro\\., old and worn-out.

is used of things, such as clothes; other verbs are used for the growing old ofoeopie, or of large composite things, such as carts or wagons.It

a ftlha as an intransitive verb, means to arrive and in that usage is

- verb, to hide soneslnonymous with gbrdga; but it also means, as a transitivething, and hence, to bury a dead body. The applied form fitlh)la does not meanro arrive at, but to find something (person, state of things, etc.) on one's arrival;e,g., he mo fitlhetse mo gae, I found him at home (i,vhen I got there). The word'discover' often translates it rvell. But note that it cannot be used lbr the findingor picking up, unexpectedly, of some article, lost or otherwise: the verbs 6dza,sila, thwala, and bega are used for that, according to the context.5 go?D (similar tc sepi), means, not at all.6 bdnala (from bdna, Peft. bcnetse) is to become visible, to come intosight, to appear. It can also mean to become available.7 lesa is to let go a thing, or to leave it alone.I molato can mean debt, fault, or blame; it can be used as a noun, orin this verbalway; lo molato,lit., you-are fault; i.e., you are at fault, you are toblame. Ga go na molato, there is no fault, i.e., there is nothing wrongequivalent to go siame. Similarly ga ke molato or ga ke na molato, I am not-to blame.e palama or pagama (Perf . palame, pagarne) is an Initiative verb meaningto climb, climb up, mount.10 The Initiative verb leba means to look at i.e., the initial act ofturning one's eyes torvards, or setting one's eyes on, something, It is not thecontinued looking which may lbllow that initial act. Herce ba ntebile means,they are looking at, or starirrg xt, me.Notice the correct use of this verb in Acts 1: 10, ba lebile thata kwa loaping,looking (steadily) up at the sky: and in Acts 3:1, re lebi ! k';ck at us!The difference between leba and bdna ts almost exactly similar to that betwecilreetsa and utlwa. Leba atd reetsa being Initiative verbs, the other two, bdnaand utlwa, might be designated 'durative' or 'durational' verbs.11 The Batswana divide u,ild animals into tr,vo main classes theilesh-eating or carnivorous ones are the dibatana and dibata; the grass-eating orgraminivorous onesali the buck and antelopeare diphbl\gdld.12 siila is to- give anyone something to drink;it also means to set asideor reserve food for someone.Additional NoteThere seems to be still another forrn of the Lnperative, u'hich resemble:sthe Past-indefinite-/o no lo kwala sentld! You mustrvrite welll It seems to bestronger than the sirnple Imperative, k'i.aalang sentli or lo kwab sentlD" It is distinguished from the Past-indefinite by its tone pattern- the initial /o of the Imperative phrase is high tone, and the whole phrase is higher pitched than theIndicative statement. This Imperative does not seem to be very common, andI am not sure whether it is a dialectical form.

THE PASSIVE, PRESENT AND PERFECT: AGENT & INSTRUMEN..T

the Passive form is important, and is more used than it

oa se rika,he is buying it, becomes in the Passivese rAkzoa ke ini,it is being bought by him.o se rekile,he has bought it, becomesse rekilwe he ini,it has been bought by him.o tlaa se rika,he wiil buy it, becomesse tlaa rikwa ke ini, it will be bought by him.

The Passive in both cases has been produced by the insertion of the semivowel-or semi-consonant-zo just before the final vowel. The majority ofverbs form the Passive in this way.

But in many verbs the final -a of the Present is preceded by a consonant

which would appear to be awkward to pronounce with this inserted zo,In such cases, either (1), an z is inserted, making another syllable:- e.g., thepassive of disa rs disizoa; or (2), the consonant in question undergoes a permutation into another consonant, either simple or compounde.g., the Passive ofloma

is

longwa; the m has changed

to

Typical examples of the insertion

ng.

of i in the Passive:

Present:Passive

aga

agizta (build)agilealafiwa (doctor, heal) alafiledituaa (herd)disitse

diitswe

ntshizoa

ntshitse

ntshitszpe

lerile

itsile

lerilweitsilzle

tlhatswitse

tlhatszpitsw

alafadisantshalereitsetlhatszoa

Perfect:

Active

Active

(take, put,

leriwe (bring)itsiwe (know)tlhatszpiwa (wash)

bitsa bidiwabaya biwa

:e-t

alafilzle

Perfect:Active

Passive

(ca11)

biditse

biditswe

(place, put)

beile

beilwe

bolaile

bolailwe

bolaya bolawa (bolaiwa) (kill)

'-i

agilwe

Typical examples of permutation of consonant in the Passive:

Present:Active Passive

ott)

Passive

[,esson 20

92lemasenyaleba

lengzact (piough)senngwa (destroy)lejwa (lebiwa)s (look at)

lemilesentsilebile

lemilzp.sentswA

lebilwe

Note that in all cases the Perf'ect Passive is 'regular' and shows the insertior:of the serni-consonant za into the ending of the Active. It is only in the presentthat different verbs foilou, difierent methods of Passive formation.(Note these three types of passive:- bdnwa, frombdna; rongwa, fron.

roma, senngwa, from senya.)

il

setsrva'a uses the Passive much more than does Engrish; it muci-rprei'ers to say, for exarnple, ua bidizaa (you are being called), ratherthan baa gtt bitsa (they are calling you).

'Agent' and 'Instrument' are clearly indicated in Setswana by a particic

(or 'adr.erbial formative' as Doke calls it). we have already had one of these.the ha, meaning 'rvith' or 'by' : this is the 'instrumental, one. Lesson 5, Note i_The 'agent' one is Ae.'o biditswe he rraugwd,dipodi. di gangwa he basimane,

ditlhare di tlaa ringwa ka dillpi,

lokwald lo kzoadjlwe he dni,go kzoadilwe ka enke,

he has been called by his father.

the goats are being milked by the bo-vsthe trees rvill be felled with axes.the letter has been n'ritten by him.it has been written in ink.

(English would idiomatically say, 'the writing has been done

is the same impersonal go which we had in Lesson 18,

II.)

in

ink'. 'fhi.

setsu'ana also has a fondness tbr putting feelings, etc., in the passir...Instead of saying 'I leel hunger', setsrvana says, 'I am kiiled by hunger.,Note the following examples:ke bolazua ke

Translate into Setswana:

mother. 2 Do you know that

? 3 These plates have not been

He was called John by his father and

,go re) the child has been struck

with a stick

broken by us; u.e don't knorv rvho has broken them. (We don't knor.v that theyhave been broken by rvhom.) 15 .[ Have you (plu.) not been sent (Appliediorm) to Maun by your chief ? 5 It is very hot, I am very thirsty; pleaseqive me a drink of water" 6 "I was hungry but you did not give me food."(\{att. 25 . +2) 16 7 "I was a stranger but you did not receive me." 8Our gardens have been spoiled by your oxen. 9 Who has taken my axe I

It has been borrowed by Gaogakwe. 10 Horv was the

buckkilled? (i.e., r,vith w-hat). It rl,as killed r'vith a gun. 11 I don't like tobe laughed at by rvomen. 12 Just look! The house has (been) burnt, (and)the doors have been stolen by people. 13 We are plagued (tshwenya) by goats,our trees in the garden have been eaten by them. 14 As I was cominghome, I was greeted by strangers; I did not knou' them. 15 If they ask us(put in passive) about you, rve will say we don't know you. 16 Let me goa\I,ay now. Don't you hear them ? they are calling me. 17 Put off yourshoes, and try these of mine. 18 The sun set upon us in the plain (put inoassive); (and) it was dark rvhen rve entered the forest. 19 If rain comes,lput in passive).

ploughingeggs, sir,

will take place ('it will be ploughed') in spring.

for our hens have been killed by the hawks. 17

20

There are no

Notes

12

See W. & .8,, p. 89, 90.

w and y are generally called the semi-vowels, and this is a reasonatrle'*av of regarding them. But in as much as they generally have a consonantaltunction and value (forming, together with a following vou'el, a syllable such ast::a or

ya), the term 'semi-consonant' rvould seem to be equally descriptive of their

sigriificance and usage.

::-

94

Lesson 203

bolawa and lejzaa or lebjwa are the usual forms, but bolaizua ar.d lebizaa

are also found.

a56

Note that d?a changes its stem vowel in the passive

opiwa.batho betsho is the same as bagaetsho; the latter is preferable.phirima is to set, of the sun; so the passive of the Appiied form, ashere, rneans literally 'u,e rn''ill be set-upon by the sun', or, 'the sun will set upon

7 ke mang ? often takes the form emang ?8 lehuti is a hole, or pit, in the ground: mosinm is used for a small hoie,but really means a small anirnal's burrorv.

senyiga comes from senya

ruined or destroyed.r0tshupa (chupa

it is an Initiative.r.erb meaning to

in Dictionary), a

become

collective noun rneaning u'eer-ils.

Cp. motlhwa, termites.

mahure and segdtld mean nearly the same, but the latter refers generally to the back-yard itself, behind the main huts, rvhile the former means huts orout-houses in it.12 There are three verbs in 'lsu'ana for 'rvash'; their meanings are seenbest from typical examples of their use. (a) tlhal>a; ke tlhapile, I have rvashed(myself); ke tlhapile diatla, I have n'ashed my hands; ke tlhapile mo matlhong,I have washed my face. (b) tlhapisa; tlhapisa ngwane lr,o, rvash this child i.e.,make him to wash himself, or help him to wash himself . (c) tlhatswa (tlhacwa),t

is to wash clothes or other articles.

13

selotele (an imported rvord),

key; but the Tsr,vana

a thing which locks or fastens together, is also

either tsztsetse or tswadile for Perfect.

used. The verb

r:vard sek,Lpild,

tszuala can haye

14 The

meaning of the proverb is that lan-s and restraints may be irksome and may even be thror.vn olT; but they producc better results and betterpersons than does unregulated anci uurestricted freedom. feta, pass, or passby, can be used as equivalent to gaisa.15 There are very many T'srvana verbs - uprvards of a score of thc-mu'hich mean some sort of 'breaking',be verv careful horv you translate-this English lvord. It is an instance of thesorichnessof the language ir-r certaindirections. Here use the verb thuba.

16 When an Initiative

.,'erb, the Perfect cf u.hich is uscd to indicate

a present or existing state, ha-e to be put into past time e.g., I u,as thirstvthe form becomes ke ne ke bolailue ke lent,ira. It looks-tense, but u'ith the Perfect form of the lcrb-t'ord instead of thelike the ImperfectPresent: actuallvit is the Pluperfect tense, br:t its meaning in this case is a sirnple Imperfect.

17 'for' or 'because' can also be rendereJ l>ti !:xtue or ka gonne.

t8 Some consider that bolailzrc ke !e:rfittta shorrltl only be uscd of crtreme thirst, and use rather ke tshwerue ke len1,dra, or ke nyorilwe for ordinarythirst. The last is perhaps the cornmonest expressior-r. See, hor.vever, Padisd21114, and Mat. 5:6, 25:35, John 4:13-1-5, 7:37, 19:28, Isaiah 49: 10,Romans 1,2:20"

commoniy founcl rvith verbs of motion

nau, I want to go away with you (: le zuina).

they have come with him or her g: te ini).kgomo di kae? he tsile,atsd, where are theoxen r I ha'e come rvith them.a u na le lokzoalo? ee, ke rm nald; have you a book? yes, I have it.rOne seidorn if ever finds, ke na leldni.)ke senka go tsamaya

Translate into Setswana:

1 If it is so desired (impersonal go ancl passive) the singers can sing again

in thc evening. 2 Take this monq,, go to the store. buli(some)it, and wash thc cl.thcs u'ith it. i ii-r"y courd not be washed soap rvithyesterdar,.because there was no soap in the shop. 4 whatis rvrong (morato),u,.hat areyou crying for ? 5 As I rvas putting my hand into this"sack,I leit (utrwalsomething (sengue) bite me. 6 Let me see yourhand: yes, I think that (gore) yott have been stung by a scorpion. r r7 T.he dogs could not kill thelion, but they were barking furiously (thata) to cali theiimaster.8

The young men went to the other side of the river to huntbuck, but they coul,1

them. 9 It is far to Johannesburg, we cannot get there (arrive) quickrv.

tell me your name, miss, I will see if they ca.-n herp yo., rvith1!a book.(Put in passi'e.) 11 These beds can't be taken out ofth" -orrr. 12 rhegirl fell as she was coming from the weil; so the water(rvas) spilecl. 13 whohaseatenmyb.adnot find

Please

? themicehave eaten

it at night. g.rt roth parts into passive.)

youcan,t)manage tH.;ol prop.rly, if you work!+like that' 15 It (impersonar go) cannot be done rikethat. 16 when Iarrived I found them short of riems, so they were notabie to inspan the oxen.(Be short of , tlhdka.) 17 They went to puontle,scattre-pcst to borrow them,but he had none: 18 His had been eaten (di ne di jetzne)by the white antsin rvinter. 19 Tn"l:.yu. a key for (of) this door, but I.urrltfind (bdna) it.My child, you *.iil never

about them, fbr lve did not see him.

Notes

12

See

Appendix, Articie 17.

rakana can be used of either an acci<iental or an

intentional meeting.Like tshwana it is used with le, not t,ith a dircct objectas in English; ke rakatn'enai, I have met (with) him.3 when enquiring the time, Tswananakd ke mang? notnak, ke eng?4 bdl6 (ball) is a transliteration; u,esayshave also had Ih"-or" authenticTsu'ana word kgwele. katse simtlarly (cat) is a transliteration.5 A motor-car is a motohara or mmotohara or motorokara,pru. mebotokara. That is' it is treated as a crass III noun beginningrvitrr doubre rulike mmele, mmala, mmila, mmushd, mmutra, etc. (Lookup ii Dictionary.) (o'

mmele see Lesson 12 Note 11).

Gauteng (lit., at the gold), or

Johane, is Johannesburg: Kimberlel,,similarly,_is Taemaneng or Teemaneng, at the diamond(s).-z bordthd (an imporration) is bread. Although there is a Tswana wordsenhgzai which is also used.phunylga and tshologa (ckologa) are Initiative verbs,from phunya and,tshola' They mean to become pierceJ, and to become spiltorout, see

forrr.a

t1Lesson 21I

latlhiga belorn', The significance of the

also

later

g-

-iga

99ending

will be dealt with much

Lesson 48.

Itboa, bowa, boya is a verb that needs some care'back occurred.turningthervhichatpointorback; and it refers tJ the placeyou have gotwhenback:goingamIotbu"kkea bozaareally means I am turning

.-f

means

to turn

homeyouruy,krboile,Ihavetu"rnedback,i'e''Ihavecornebackorreturned'is is a deceptive trans(The E'nglish'rvord 'return' here does fit the meaning, butdoes denote.)iation unless you have a clear idea of what bowa actuallyWhenusedwithapreposition,again,referencetothebasicmeaningwillindicate how

it

ought to

i. t,u"tl't"d' If you go to Mafeking'^and there instead

homewards' you can say after that' ke boile

journey with the intention of turnkwa Mafikeng. If you set out on your initialI shall turn backing back from Mafeki.rg, 1'ou szy, ke tlaa bowa kwa Mafikeng'at Mafeking.

preposition and iocative; ke

keboetsehznaMangaung,IhavereturnedtoBloemfontein.LookupinNewcases'Testament Luke 8 : 39 and 40 for typical-ieto Tswana can say either c fiwi . . . or u mphi . . .;is often preferred.| 1 Same verb in Setswana for 'sting' as for 'bite""12 rJse kana for 'why' when thus used as an interjection'

but the

passive

(i'e''latlha is to thr# away-literally, of a thing, or figurativelytobecomemeansform latlhigaabandon), of a person. Hence theinitiative Stativeto a passive, but it is notsimilarsomervhatisItray,or abandoned.

REI-ATIVE CONSTRUCTIONThe Relative construction is a term for the clauses which rerateto, ,: qualify, some previously-mentioned idea or thing. Theygenerally begrwith 'who '' or 'r'r'hich . .'', e.g., 'the rnen ruho-a.el*orking-i11"-1h.-*arden,.'This construction is even more common in setswana than iri Engiish,becauso

as we shali see, setswana_has no Adjectives proper,

and all adjectivai qualificatio:of nouns, etc., has got to be rendered by a Relative construction. youcan,t sa.,in setsrvana, 'a black man', or 'a beautiful umbrella,. you have to .;y ;; --who-is-black','an umbrella rvhich-is-beautifirl'_

Horvever, we will take the generar case first, in which the qualificationi.indicated by a verbal clause.

the boys who were reading.

lokwald lo lo no (nong) lzta balzaa,

the boys who read.

the book which was read.

From these examples it will be seen that the characteristic

constructiolof(1) a double pronoun or concord, and(2) a suffix,added to the-ag,verb. Notice horvever, that in the case of the pasi ienses the-z!'ending eithe.disappears altogether (which is generally the case), or isadded to'the ne or no oconsists

na of the verbal form.

The double concord is not always quite as simple as the 6a ba

or ro r,of these examples, but all are easy to master, as they follou, thepatten:

The negative forms, when used with the Reiative construction, ernproythe sa or se instead of the ga as the negative formative. we have arreadvthis alternative negative formative in Lessons g I C and 19 I B.

na madi a a lekanyeng, re tlaa rekisa maphutshe a re nang nad,13

pxencrsn

44

Translate i.nto Setswana:

1 Here are the ducks we have kiiied. 2 Let us go and find boys whocan play with us to-morrow. 3 The men rvho will be here to-morrow arenot those whom r.ve saw yesterday. ,t He is my friend, who has helped megreatly. 5 Take these jackets, u.hich have been made by olebetse's mother,to the shop u'hich is on the other side of the river. 6 The women rvho had

no water-pots could not draw rvater. 7 If the rvater has dried-up (hgala)in the pans (mogobe) ,let the oxen be herded near the river. 8 we are rucky(segd) we rvho have a well which does not dry-up. 9 The chief has sentme to pay the men u'ho returned yesterday from the cattlepost. 10 will themoney be enough ? No, it won't be enough to buy the things which we desire.11 Probably the girls who went away will come again. 1,2 Who said so(it is rvho, who has said so) ? I do not agree that it will be so. 13 come quickly

?Lesson 22

103

(plu.) and take those chairs; put them on the wagon which is standing near thecorn, it has been ruined by the mice. 15 It isdifficult to help a boy rvho refuses to heed his mother. 16 tr like those who obeyme, and those r-ho serve me.17 Who is it rvho ought to go to bring the post(pdsd)? 18 If you (plu.) trust me, I u'ill not do you barm (utlznisa botlhoko) .19 I cannot remember (gakologiiwa) the name of the rvoman who told me thesethings. 2(\ 'I'hose r.vho have been forgiven their flults should try to do better

house. 1+ This is useless

(botoka).

Notes

On the Relative Construction see Doke, B. L. T., p. 187. Setsrvana is

in this respect extraordinarily homogeneous and consistent, in that all qualificatives follow the same rule and patter:n.

-f

2 A proverb; it means that crying, compiaining, making oneself heard,

rnay be a nuisance to other people, but it is a heaithy sign, a sign of life. Thethari is the soft phuduhu.Cx (stembuck) skin rvith four long ends or taiis, by ivhichthe mother or elder sister carries the child strapped to her back.3 Notice the otder of the subjectival pronouns and concords in these casestse lo di kwadileng; and also e r e rekileng in sentence 8. Contrast the posi-tion of the objectival pronoun in sentence 19.4 tbta (real, indeed, etc.) is one of these very idiomatic little rvordsIike fila and thatawhich can be translated in numerous ways. Here one wouldtranslate, 'our very ou'n'.5 In northern B. P., when an zg precedes an / or h, the tendency is topronounce as if the ??g rvas an m; in this case it would be as if written e e adimik:em-fila. This does not always hold in the south.6 Remember that nkga is to give off a smell: a quite different verb mustbe used of the person who smells the smell. 'fswana usage is here much moreprecise than the English, which has one word, srneil, for at least three meanings.7 Notice the gompieno sandwiched adverbially between the relative concords: but it would not be wrong to s y e e bodileng gompieno.a tlhaba is used of any piercing action, as of an ox's horns; and also inthe technical sense, of slaughtering cattle for food. One would not in that connection use bolaya. The other form of the passive, tlhajwa or tlhabjwa, is more commonly used than tlhabiwa.9 Notice this common usage; the.re stands for seld sengwe or sejd sengzne,some thing or some food.

to ba ba di tlhdkangnote the position of the objectival pronoun di,as contrasted with the subjectival pronouns in sentences 5 and 8. Nouns areoften left out, as here; the full construction would be batho (or bdni) ba ba ditlhdkang, the people vrho them lack.

+-r

11 tshwanila (chzaanila) generally used in the Perfect, is commonly

of 'ought to' 'should', etc. It can also be used with thego tshwanetse go nna jalo, it ought to be so. (Neg. of courseimpersonal gogo goa tshutanila go nna jalo.)12 pele and morag6, with or without hwa, can be used as adverbs of eitherused with the meaning

Lesson

104

22

time or place. (When pele means first or before in point of time, it is muchhigher in tone than lvhen it means first or before in point of space, or placei.e., in front of.)o tsile pele,o tsile pele ga roila,o eme fa pele 93. moruti,o tsile kwa moragd ga rona,

he came befbre, first.

he came before us (in time).he.is standing in front of teacher.he came after us, later than us.

ke mo fitlhetse kwa moragd ga ntkt,

I found him behind the house.

Note thatpele and moragd behave as nouns, although they can be used adverbially. They are used u'ith the possessive concord Ea e.g., Tnorago ga gagzad,lit. the after of him. It is identical rvith the Hebrew- usage, which instead ofsaying lihe English 'after him', says 'his afterwards'.13 lekana is to be similar to, or the same as, something. (The nounsderived from it, tekana and molekane, mean companion, equal.) If two piecesof stick are just the same length, it can be said', dia lekana, or dia tshwana, lheyare the same. Like tshwana it is used with le; logong lo, lo lekana le lole, this

log is the same as that one. The phrase go lekanye, using the impersonal

QUALIFICATIVES (ADJECTIVES): otThe: VERBAL CONCORDS

We noted in Lesson 22 that there are no Adjectives, properiy speaking,in Setswana, and that the adjectival effect was accomplished by the use ofthe Relative Construction. (See end of this Lesson for a possible exception to thisgeneralisation. )

still obviously verbs, are very nearly adjectives, and in

the Relative Construction have that effect. One of them, the verb siama,we have had already, in Lesson 9.Some verbs, while

motho yo o siameng,a good man. (Lit., a man who has become good.)motho yo o sa siamang, a bad man. (Lit., A man who has not become good.)mosadi ya o lznalang,a sick woman (a woman who is ill).tshipi e e fetileng,last week (the week which has passed).

In the second place, there are a number of abstract nouns which can beused with the Relative Construction, and then have the force of adjectivesof quality. Many are of the bo- ma- Class, Class IX. Examples of these areyo o bonya, a slow person.bogale, fierceness, sharpness; thipa e e bogale, a sharp knife.bonya, slowness;

tlsese are used as

in the two examples above. The nouns themser'e"

are not declined or inflected in any way

'agreement' according to th.- istheclass of the noun which is being qualifiedefiecied solely by the concordsdithipa tse di bogate.The negatives shrulcl be noted, but they are not common,for there is usuarlranother adjective-noun to express the opposite:thipa e e seng bogale, a knife rvhich is not sharp : thipae e boi.koloi e e seng bokete, a wagon which is not heavy : i emotlhofo.

Thirdly, there are numerous other abstract nouns which have an

alter.ative form, a sort of semi-adjectival form, which is used with theRelatir.o

khutshwane (khuchvtane) short.

'fhe last word has two forms, *reere and.

-terere, both of which can take theprefixes, as shown below. The r,vord-hibidu often has the alternative forrr-

-hubidu;

and -shweu and. -ncho vary dialectically to

-sweu and. -ntsho respectivei\"(See Appendix, Article 6.)

There are other abstract nouns which can be used

adjectivally; there i.further the large class of colour-marking-nouns or adjectiveswhich describe themarkings and colourings of cattre, and by which it is possibleto describe in :word aimost any type and corour of cattre-hide. (A^ instunc"of the richness c,:the language in one particular direction, that most importantto a pastoral people.

(See Appendix, Article 26.)

The characteristic of this last group is that the personal (Class

I) concordsare slightly different from those used in the nouns listedin B above. E.g..yo mo. . , takes the place of yo o . . .

Note that in this group the second

e of the concords e e is omitted.

Ir

The qualificative 'a11', 'the whole of' (and sometimes 'every'), is coveredin Setswana by the adjective -otlhe, which takes a concordial prefix according to the Class of the noun being qualified. Examples:

IIIIIVVVIVIIVIIIIX

(&

II)

rona rotlhe, u'e all, all of us.

lona lotlhe, you all, all of you.bdni botlhe, they ali, all of them.

morafe otlhe, whole

morula otlhe,

tribe;

merafe yotlhe, ali the tribes.

marula aotlhe (otlhe).

thipa yotlhe,

dithipa tsotlhe.

selipi

dilipd tsotlhe.

sotlhe,

lokwald lotlhe,

dihwald tsotlhe.

legapu lotlhe (jotlhe),

magapu aotlhe (otlhe).

malwetse aotlhe (otlhe)malemd aotlhe (otlhe) .

bolwetse

jotlhe,

X go lema gotlhe,

'lwo remarks may be made on the above table.

(1) There is no doubt that aotlhe is the underlying form, and thereforethe correct one. But in modern Setswana it is almost invariably pronouncedand written otlhe. (The same applies to the emphatic pronoun adnd (dni), LessonA

15

II: the initial a has been, or is being, lost.)

(2) This qualificative -otlhe, and other qualificatives of the same nature

which rve shall study, seem to be the only authentic adjectives in setswana: ifindeed one can at all press the idea of a 'pure adjective'. The latter is a grammatical concept drar'vn from European languages, and Bantu languages are radicallydifferent from those outside of Africa.

'l'ransiate into Setswana:

1 Where are all the white boxes, and their keys

(mokgwa) should be reproved (kgatemita) by the

? Z All bad habi..

chief. 3 All those who ::.weak, and those who cannot walk, will go on (by) thewagons. 4 Loo.,:we have all got new books !-5 We h;;" u new tlacher, and rve aI",h_":,like him very much. 6 The blacksmith is very slowin his work, but he is :trustworthy man (ikanyiga). 7 Do you think 1h".. o*"r,can haur this hea.,wagon ? 8 I want (rata) to get you a neN, broom,but perhaf. _" _o.,..will not be enough. 9 'fhe girl who was crying was afraidto go into ti_yard at the back of the house.6 10 she rvas ifraid.(tshabal of the rarlfierce dog which was barking. 11 I rike black peopreur""r.-""a-.rti..""a up (kgala)horses. 1,2 All the grass is green, but the water has driedthewelIs.13Al1thosewhocouldnotworkweregiven(/a/1ittlebooks.

All

in

2..

small children love their mothers and fathers. 15 vo'

o,rgrr, ail to gtogether and help Gaefhere's mother to plough. 16M.r, .u.r.ror .oor. * ,r,they need women who have learned ttt" *o.t1.; of the home. 17 what ve;rnice (monate) porridge! who has cooked iti'1n,rt in passive.)rs"^-ilr-..was a black snake in the backyard, which was eating theeggs.' rg All tr.white shoes have been stolen, 20 Is he not a very cleverhunter, who cahunt all day in the forest ?

._

Lesson 23

109

Notes

1 lofiild is the short setswana broom or switch used for the floor; in

it is a bundle of motshikiri grass tied together, in north nrokolane (palm)

fibres are often used to make it. It cannot be used (the rvordWiild) as a ruleto translate the English word 'brush'.2 dba (transitive) means to bend something; 6bama, intransitive, is tcrbend oneself or assume a bending position ; dbamila means to bend down towardsIand hence, to respect, to reverence or worship,the south

3 metse, water, is often used as an adjective meaning wet or watery.

a aniga is to spread anything out, or hang it up, to dryor to air.5 di na le -. . in this usage corresponds curiously enoughto a simiiarusage in English-they have to be sharpened. It is equivalent io ditshwanetsego loodizua.6 tshaba is to be afraid of anything andior to run away frorn it. ,llhereis another verb for (fear'

- Lesson 26 - butbeusethetshaba at present.

maoto a maleele (or matelele) u,'ouidfuli form, but it is also pos_sibie to use noun and adjective together, as if it \vere one compoundword, long7

legged.

apara (Pf. apere), the (initiative) i,erb il.orn which comes seaparo; itgarment; hence, in per{'ect, to be rvearing. It is not used forplitting on articles of clothing on head or feet.means to put on a

e Note the idiomatic go

itse zuina-the irnperso'al go. 'fhe phrasc

to the same thing as ua itse, but it brings the emphasis on to thewina, i.e.,'it is you (not I) who knou,.r0'what I' as an exclamation is a high-tone aA bogdbi jo bo monate !comes nearly

1 Tsaya lofdeld lo, u fddle matlakala aotlhe a a mo kamoring.

ka re, moldra otlhe o fedile.

110

LESSON 24NUMBERS: HOW MANY? (kae? )

ilt. numerals in Setswana ought to be known, although this is one aspec:

of the language which is not proving equal to the demands of modern life.The old Bantu system of numeration was logical, and adequate for the limite:demands of a pastoral and unlettered people : but it is too clumsy to be an effectir.:instrument for modern trading or money matters. Especiaily is this so in thtcase or numbers upwards of twenty; the English numerals are increasingly beineI

go lema gongwe Jila.

selipd se le sengzte fila,

The root is -ngzte, meaning one, to which the noun prefixes of tire variou.added. fila, meaning just or only, is added generally to emphasis:the fact of the unity, but is often omitted. (As we shall see, this -ngwe has oth.uses and significances.) In some tribes this -ngzae or nngzae has an open vontClasses are

makgolo a le mani le masomi marataro le rnetsd e e .firang mebedi.

There is a verbal use of the numerals; really it is just the verb ,to be'as we had it in Lesson 14, I B.

re batlhano; we are five (:.e., there are five of us).

dihgomo di thataro; the oxen are six (in number).nnyaa, ga di thataro, di shomi; no, they are not six, they are ten.

'how many?' is expressed by kae? (or haye?) usually sounded asha-e?

Do not confuse this with the kae? meaning 'where ?' The consonants andvowels are identical (unless it is pronounced hahe) but the tonal pattern is quiteB

different.

kae meaning'where' is high-mid, low-mid:

hae meaoing 'how many' is low-mid, high-mid.

In the first, the voice drops on the last vowel; in the second, the voice is raisedon the last vowel.pald (from bala, to count or read), is a 'number'.patd ya tsdni e kae? what is their number ? (Lit., numbermany ?)

'franslate into Setswana:

1 How many days will you take to go to Sefhare and to return i 2 -'we can get three horses and haif-a-dozen donkeys, we should take three da;.or four days. 3 Bring me (sing.) five eggs, anC (some) clean (-ntli) c:,..:water. 4 Last month I bought (Perf.) twelve donkeys for (ka) thirty pour::5 Two men with blunt axes can:,r(ponto) ; they were very dear (tura) .ta

trees. 6 All these seven boys are to blame (ba molat:

truth. 7 How many red books were there ?She says she does not remember the number of the books. 9 Are you cr:tired (plu.) ? Are you not thirsty ? 10 How many small ploughs are ther= 'and where shall I get them? 11 I will call the three girls to theschool, (ar:they will tell me about their father. 12 This is a very dirty book, Jor 13 Hurry up, mma, wash youi hands quickly, =':where did you get it Iwash all these things with boiling water. (See Lesson 20, Ncte 12.; ts 1+ -ljthe long poles (mepakd) should be put on the ground. 15 Also there are ri=which are short: let them be placed at the back of the school. 16 16 -:-ithe boys who came to-day have made their beds 1: laid down their sleepir.mats) in the yard, in front of the house. 17 Why do you (sing.) not take ca::of the things you have been given by your teacher? 17 18 Those who cercut down all these high

they did not tell me the

Lesson 24

113

not build, can bring the bricks and the mud for the builders. 19 Theof boys like work which is not difficult. 20 How sharp the blackdog's teeth were! 18 2l "We are twelve brothers, we are the sons of ourfather; oneisnot(gaayd), andthelittleoneis nowwith('has') hisfatherintheland of Canaan." (Genesis 42: 32.) ts22 "They arrived at Elim rvheremajority

The Class V numeral is generally now spelt nngwe; in the 1910 systemwas spelt ngzae, and engwe has also been used: ngrtgwe has been proposed. It

first is a syllabic z or perhaps sometimes ag. Btt mongzae,

etc., are but trvo syllables;the syllabic nor ng disappears with the prefix,Ieaving the root -ngzle. (There is much to be said for spelling the Class V formengwe.) In some dialects it is nngwi.2 Notice the permutation of the r into th; see Lesson 16.3 supa is to point at anything or any person, with the index finger; suchpointing at a person is, to Tswana thinking, extremely rude: it is more than rudeness,it is often regarded as one way of bewitching or casting an evil spell on a person.'fhere is nothing wrong, however, in using the index finger to point to athing, e.g., an ox; but the old men say that during a thunderstorm, or whilethunder and lightning are near, it is dangerous to use the index finger to point;one must use the thumb.supa also has the broader meaning of showing, proving, witnessing. Forthe Setswana method of counting on the fingers see Appendix, Article 18.a shupa and shomi are dialecticalLy supa and somd, and very often sois

tr,vo syllables, the

sengwe,

u'ritten.

(See Appendix, Article 6.)

But the word

metsd

is often dropped, and the form then becomes

etc.

/e-

for example Mareko 3: 14 in Tswana

Bible, ". .. ba le somA b bobedi", (he chose) twelve (men). Also Genesise 14: 4," Ba dirila K. dinyaga di le somi le bobedi, mme ka ngxnaga zua motsd an boraro baisuolola." "They served K. for twelve years, but in the thirteenth they rebelled."Or 2 Dihgosi 23:31 , "dinyaga di le masomi mabedi le borero", "twenty-threevears". Indeed the original meaning of the word motsd would almost seem to be,not 'unit', but 'unit-above-ten'.6 ntsi, with prefixes (same group of adjectives as ntli above), meansmany; so bantsi, either with or without batho, means many people. With theabstract prefix 6o-, i.e., bontsi, the word indicates a crowd or number of people,,r, the majority or most of people.7 telele (-leele) is used for horizontally long things, not generally for:rose which are tall or high, i.e., long in a vertical direction. For the latter the', erb gola,grow, is used. You don't usually talk of a motho yo mohe.le, or motho; '' rnotelele; you say motho yo o godileng. The same usage holds for all high things,somi le bobedi, lesotni Ie boraro,

protection from; from the verb s.li.r;.,.

(This does not seern to come from"si)a,tn shade or ro stand-in-the-righ:ancl there seenls no ve,b siretsa.) Itis useci as theof the Bechuanal.Protectorate.'ame14 'dear'; there is a rnuch used ,lernpioved here; like those in 23 rB,ittakescxprcssing_'dear' (of purchascs, ctc.) in propcr"'fi::oXl""r,KJ;,:"lll":::,l,suanir.)ls Reflexir.eofwhich itlhagor)b i".rn", in the secondperso:.the Imperativc, encr 'erbs,in -i, not in -a; s.'t.r.ry,-,p!'is eitheritrtaganiri! or ii..gurte/eng !

'rvhy'here can be_translail ke eng ..,?

'brothers', in a case like this, is i' Tsrvana

'ch'dren of a person'children of a man,. (There are, holl_ever,other ways of ,r""rf"A.rg ,broi:._as we shall see.) Here translate, ,trvelve;';;,."'20 'where', when it is not an interrogative,"hildr"r. "finvolves the Rerative c, ,_truction; in this case, kua... reiative constr,iction...gdni.

OTHER -ngwe USAGES: KINSHIP NOUNS

.ltr"

V.

expressions 'some one', 'a certain one', 'another one', 'others', ,eachone', are all expressed in Tswana by constructions employing forms of-Egg,e, nhich as we have seen has the root meaning of 'one', or'unity'. There are::ree distinct usages, which can be learned more easily from examples than from

f;'d

Jt*-riptions.

)e

;f

In the first rsage, -ngwe denotes a certain or a particular thing, but withoutthe emphasis on that thing being a single unit which fila implies (e.g.,:n the numeral 'one'). Indeed the indefinite article 'a' can often be idiomatically

There are many nouns which express

Kinship, of which so far we havtrra, trma, ngwana, mor,)a, morutadia, ,romogolo,A*r, " sometimesused instead of rra, but it is a Sothoterm, not u T.rvuiu o.r".)had.

children in a family. The brother-sister

rerationship is a rittle dificurr.in Setswanaitisregarded from ,;";j;;"., point oiT":ql

because

view as well as from the simpry'Jbjective'

vierv which the

"

Engrish language takes.

In the latter'brother' or'sister'.only the sex of the person spoken of:"*pr.a...but in setswana the words to be used areconditioned both i, ii" sex of theperson spoken about and by the sexof the speaker. (The issue rs furthercomplicated by the fact that there aredifferent termsv-sv^ brother-- forurvlrr (or sister,-vr elderand younger brother (or sister).)

(1) when children of.the.same fam'y, irrespective of sex,

There is also an inclusive and generar term

for any other ch'd of one,s* ngwana-wa-ga-rri, nga)afta_z,oa_ga_mmi,,ihild

own parents

of my

father,

Lesson 25

117

mother'. These terms are used in- a general way; when theyare used in directaddress (vocative), rra.and' mrna takethe place of rri,or mmirrywana-wa-garra, etc' sometimes they are shortened to ngzDana-a-rra, ngwana-a-7nma, mybrother, my sister.

(3)

The other brother-sister terms are forms of three root-words:

mogolo (root

-goh),

monna (root -nna),

kgaihadi (kgantsadi),

is elder brother of a boy, or, elder sister of a

elder child of the same sex as speaker.

girl.

I.e., an

younger brother of a boy, or younger sister of a girl:

ayounger child of the same sex as speaker,any_ brother of a girl, or sister of a boy: i.e., anychild ofa different sex from the speaker.

The ttin-laws" and others. It is important to realise that the

setswanafamily is never just 'father and mother and the chiidren'; itis a wide andrather indefinite group, embracing not only the presentfatherls family and themother's family, but groups and families ihro,rgl marriageties of many manyvears ago. A child often stays for long periods withthe ,in-laws,, sometimesgrows up rvith them entirely; and uses rri, mmi,of others besides his actualparents. A full treatment of the family, and the termsused, r.vould take a long

B'

article.

From the children's point of view, the most important person

apart from theis the malama, or maternal unclethe mother's .hi.f lrotir"r. He isoften more important than the parents themserves,e.g., in a girl,s marriage arrangements' The next in importance is the rakgadi, o,. put"r.ri auntthe father,sparents

Motswana refers to his other uncles and aunts thus:

There is some variation in the use of the kinship terms among

the difierenttribes: the student should study the chart of Kinship Termsin tlhe Appendix,Article 19, and make himserf familiar with the terms; theyare important. rrinogoll and mmi-mogolo arc the grandparents on either side ofltogolo,

The possessives are

r of what is certainly originally a double

consonaltt,

/r,

..

generally omitted.)

Amarried woman (and her people) refers to her husband's people as ti.,bagwi, arrd a married man (and his people) refers to his rvife's people as the &r;guagadi or bagwagwadi. Any one member of these groups can be referred to=.mogwi or mogzuagadi, but these words are generally used ontry of the most importaione, i.e., the father or the mother of that family.The term mogatsa, meaning spouse, can be used of either a man or iwoman: but itis not held to be so proper or fitting asm.osadiortnonna, 'u,ife'o"'husband'.3

Translate into Setswana:

?2How many hammers and axes have you got in that box' -ThomastheLetall3blunt'veryisIt?When is your uncle going to sharpen his axedeadtheeatingvulturesmanyIsaw4dirty rubbish be thrown T,-tto th" ht"'6 Thishorse. 5 The old man is very sick; let us all go to see him'governThe7i11'arewhomanyandyear there are many rvho are ht"g'y,ofhundredsmanyboughtithasmefi (gorominti) is ltyingto helitn" ptoplt;theypeople;father'swife'smyvisitbags oimealies.'Io 8 Let us (2) goto1

run and.tell the chief that

live on the other side of the river. 9 Quick (sing'),everything' 10 Takeupeatingthe red locust(s) are in the gardens and arebrother; 11 telllittleyourtoall these things on the table and give themface' 12 Kohisandhandshishim to brushishutlha) his shoes, 1u""a; to wash

were ill'thatloi,s wife has come to see you, *ott.r, she says she heard.(fa) .yourvhochildAweek'every13 Every worker should receive his wages!4

doesnotobeyhisfather,slawwillobeythatofthevultures.lt15Wehadfruit; i6- but the otherseventeen good trees, which bore ("sei to bear) nice

17 This womansix were .ti good, they bore fruit that could not be eaten'fromDinokana'awayfarliveothersbut four are dead, thehad eight(The"hi'ldr".t;brothers'biggrown-upthree18 I have a very pretty little sister, andwork:forlooktowhite-folkthetzgoto19 Many menspeaker is a boy')married man.o*" get a lot oflmoney, but others get just a little' 20 EveryEvery child2tpeoplewife'stt;t'orrght io take care of his'wife, and to ft"tphas only two Parents. t3

Notes

1z

from ilse' know'

day: seeThe root meaning of tlhdla (tlhotse) is to pass or spend -theto gomeansandcommon'alsoisitmuch later, Lesson 40. But as used hereseetosomething'at'lookahaveto see, go to look-up' a person; or to inspect,oxen,andservantstlhdlatohorv it is; e.g.' a man .uy go to his cattlepost'lrisitsa (iditse), forbic{; distinguish

other.hand' is chiefly'tekola (tekotsi)'ontheis ill' (Thesomeone..rvhoforgoing to see or to enquireused of sick-visitingmet with inbewillperson,sicka report about acausative form, Iekoilisoi^ui"45')LessoninIrsson 36, and the Reflexive of that, itekodisa,3 rnogatsa has three other endings - mogatsaha(-ki), my " ' ' nxogatsd'a good wordrour. . . mogats|, his or her " ' But it is not generally consideredi.e., to see how they are gettini

on' "

touse;perhapstheEnglishequivalentwouldbetorefertoaman'swifeashis'rsoman'. But some trii"s .lt" the word without this sense of impropriety'alayaistoexhortapersonseriouslyabouthisbehaviourorconduct_to give important informnot necessarily because he has already done wrong, butation so that he will not make mistakes'5 Note the way that Tswana uses these terms - it saYs, for examPle,'how many your-younger-brothers have you''two his-sons', not just'two sons'.

See also sentence

\4r',.,

he had

r20

Lesson

2S

6 A man always(tsaya) a woman, but a r.voman.takesdoes not lr_,a man; she is always ,takenby; fti\zla ke) her husband.or, the tatter. Note in this sentenceatso thati ,"*:^1,:, .^j}^:i:,,t:,:,;i:f

'which one(s) ?' 'which of these ?, are all

to which is prefixed the class concord

expressed by the syllable -;t'e,

,i the noun(s) referred to.

|.: ofe

zua

bbni yo o tsanmyang?

which of them is going au.ay ? l

(Note that he martg yo o tsamayang? would, not be quite the same thing;ma'g ? simply makes a general enquiry without having in mind any particularEroup; ofe? has just such a group in mind:)I't tlaa rima setlhare sefe

(mo

go tsdni)? which tree (of these) rvill you fell?

ts

similarly, 'none', 'no one', 'not any', are expressed by the syllable -pi,to which is prefixed the class concord of the noun(s) referred to. Bur,.r-henever this syllable is empioyed, the verb must be in the negative.(Lookback to Ex. 17, no. 19 and the Note upon itwhere u,e had sepd meaning

2u lo nke lo bdna dijd dipd;

there is no one in the house.

I I have not any.

This last sentence rright equally r,vell have been put, ga lo nhe lo tli bdnagopd: the word gopi is an adverb, qualifying the verb bdia. The meaning is

eractly the same, for all practical purposes, as that ofthe previous sentence but the;srammar of it is slightly different, A very similar adverb is gotlhe, ,altogether,,'compietely', compounded from the prcfix goancl the syllable -otlhe meaning,all'.

There are many ways of using the Relative construction, for examplethose expressing 'in which . . ., ,through, by, for rvhich', etc., and thestudent ought to master them. The Relative construction is really a very flexible instrument, and to be able to handle it r,vell is valuable.e

kt kgdrd e ba duleng ka ybil,

ntlo e ke hinang mo go ydnd;

aatho ba re *wang kwa go bdnd,.nasimo a go lengzuang mo go adnd,'

this is the gatervay by which they went

the house into which I enter. [our.the people from whom \4re come.the lands in which people are ploughitrg.

le mo bentleling ga go na i;pa, A; rekisitswe tsotlhe.

Translate into Setstvana:

There is no work at all by which l can get money.

2 Which booigive you, from among (mo go) those I received lastweek I3 I woul:like (desire) the one which terls about (kaga) a[ thediseases.4Allmy wife.=people live far away from our home. - 5 whichof these men is it who li:a fire in the forest ?6 The whore forest is burning, *na all ti. animars i:shall

Lesson 26

t23

it will die. 7 Doesn't every girl think that she is pretry ? 8 What ahrge kitchen you have ! there are many things in it.9 There are cups andphtes and knives and pots, but I don't see any table at all. 10 The tree besiderhich the phala is standing is a large morula-tree. 11 I'm surprised at yourcoming (you come) to see me to-day; you know that I have no time. 13 12He is a man who helps people wherever he goes. 13 Come and let us playrith the new ball which Monare has given us. (Put in Passive.) I+ Every{xe (tshikd) is difficult if you do not know the laws of the country you are living in.n,i The chief who was ruling at that time was a very wise man. 16 I thinkSere are nine horses which will run to-day. t 317 The chief has seen themall, but he said there isn't one among them which is fast. 18 We saw many[rlrck in the road by which we came yesterday, but we only shot one. 19 Thesemea have told me that the town to which they are going is known by everybody.3l \Iyself I cannot believe (agree) that it is known by all men of all tribes"ll The eggs which you (sing.) could not buy, have been bought by yourlnternal aunt. 22 But she says there isn't one which is all right, so she r,vill&mw them all away.FSotes

a: the one vorvel tends to become assimilated to the other.2 But he gdni can also be used with another meaning. (Lesson 37.)3 rzlala (rwele) is to put anything on one's head or feet hat, boots,- of dress.)etc- (\\re have already hadrola which means to take offany such articlebemmes ga

"

h1 1r" verb is also used for carrying

loads on the head, as women

do;

re

rzoele

mas means we are carrying water on our heads in our water-pots.

a Remember the two allied meanings of raya to say to and to mean.5 he/ is a common interjection; it might be translated'I say!' or ,Lookfoare!'

kua, to call or shout,

is

used specially

of the high-pitched shout of

ffiE tribal 'town crier' as he circles the town in the early morning calling the men,{m some regiment, to the tribal meeting place. (It also means to give ofi smoke,m, e

fire does.)

7 ita is to take a journey-Initiative; re etile, we are on a journey.

is to journey to or towards, and often means a visiting to see someone or

place, if a certain distance is involved: moetiis a traveller, loit6 a jowney,a gongwe le gongwe, like gopi and gotlhe, is an adverbial, and meanswhtterer, anywhere, everywhere. It is the same construction as mongwe lemryr, but with the go prefix, referring to an understood gold (or fetd), a place;ffim* it really means in every or each place.

dtrrdr

mnne

gakgamala (gakgametse) is generally used as an Initiative verb; he

I am surprised, I wonder at. (Note that the English idiomatic expmflmn'I wonder!' now-a-days means something rather different.)

g@wcrse,

to

labaha

or nakd. The latter generally refers to a time of day; lobaka

word of wider meaning, and includes the meaning of chance or opportunity.

TFIE SUBJUNCTIVL MOOD, PRDSENT AND FU-fURE

Lesson 19 III A we had the'Permissive Imperative', mmahe boni,,,iet me see . . . and noted that only the first part of this, the Auxiliary verbntna, \\as re ally in the Impcrative; the main verb bdni being in the Subjunctive .Now the Subjunctive is rather more used in 'Iswana than in English, fornot only has it to do the same duty as in the latter, but it is employed in manycases v.here English would use the Infinitive. Where English would normallysay, 'he sent a man to tell the people', Tsrvana lvould prefer to say 'he sent a manthat he might (or may) tell the people'.

"-fa u ntshira gore he se ka ka leba kztsa

(Eng. would say, 'give me time

to...')if you shade me (i.e. rvith blinkers)so that I should (may) not look behind, do it (so) that thcy don't (maynot) press on my

"Jesu a ba laya thata gore go se itse opi

seli se; le goni a laola gore a fiw) dijd.")Iareho 5: 43)

eyes.

Jesus strictly charged them that no

one should know this thing; also hecommanded that she be given food.

There is another form of the Subjunctive, which may be regarded as a

Future or Imperfect tense of it; it is less common than the simple orPresent form, and is seldom found in the negative. Its significance is often notr-erv different from that of the above form, but it does generally seem to have areference to future or merely possible conditions and actions. It often has thesense of 'might' or 'should', and it often follows an Imperative or another Subjr-rnctive,

!{ t

Lesson 27

1,26

gore ke tli ke rihi, in order that I should or might buy.

gore u tlo u riki,yougore a tld a riki,he

In the 2nd person singular and plurai, the l/d is generally, but not inr.ar.,iassimilated to the o sound of the concord or pronoun: l/o.(Do not confuse this Imperfect or Future subjunctive with another coi:-::verbal form, the Habitual mood, kea tle ke reke, which we have not yer s:_:,but which the student may come across in his reading. It is dealt with in L...,,,,,41.) Examples of this second Subjunctive are:"Jesu a tlhaola ba le somd le bobedi, goreba nnd nad, gore a tld a ba romd, bayd go ruta Mafoko a a Molemd, Ie goreba nn6 Ie thata . . ." (Mareko 3: 14f) r"E rile ha ba ne ba kumanegile segolo, kaa rika gore ke a godlsd, (gore) a tld adl'rd/d bana ba me." (Diphoshdplrcshd,p.3.)

Jesus chose trvelve, that they

mis-:

,,,,,

with him, and he might send th.:.r

preach and to have power . . .

,r

(T-,n.

subjunctives for Eng. infinitir-es

Since they were very very

bought them (a

to bring them up,

so

that thel'

serve my (orvn) children.

(There is another case of exactly the same thing on p.

F\:+

:':

mazailanq .rirr'c4mr:

x of the same :.,,,,r,

It

is probably north rvhile to distinguish the trvo uses of gore anl 1. r.

ke ba lebetse, ba ne ba re tlogila bogologolo, ke le

2l

mosetsana

Ke mhitlhetse a lela, a re mogolowi o rno tseetse teke ya

O e mo tseetse gole a se e niili mosimane yo rnongwe.pxrncrsn

54

yo monnye fila.

gagzoi.ld

22

Translate into Setswana:

2 She is afraid to go1 A man's voice is not the same as a woman's,.lnear the house, she is afraid that the dog will bite her. (Put in Passive.)Let everything with which we shall build (put in Passive) be got together soon;let every one bring his own. 4 He is well known to people wherever he goes.-5 You are bad boys, I shall teil your father about you. 6 Take the hammerlrom that child, so that he may not spoil my boxes,7 There were two hundred baboons in all,the caves. 8 I told the teachers to tell the boys (Subj.)to take their hats off. 9 The big school in which all these children studyrvas built by Khama. 10 This woman says her husband has taken two oxenfrom her, in order to sell them and get money. 11 James, take care of thesetrees, and water them every day, so that they may bear-fruit nicely. 12 Isthere no one here who can read to me this new book of mine ?13 My wife'speople have gone to live at Gaberones, to be near the school to which their girlsgo. 14 I have seen you before, but I don't'remember where I have seen you,15 Yes, they know (recognise) me, they know it was I who built the magistrate'shouse. 16 All my father's brother's people will set out to-morrow to go tothe cattle-post to see how the oxen are. 17 Ducks build their nests in the reed,n-here they cannot be seen. 18 I shall buy you a brush (seshutlhd) so that\-ou can (may) brush my shoes for me every morning. 17 19 "They saidto him, Who are you? That we may,answer those who have sent us." (John1:22) 20 "He said to his disciples, Gather up (sila) all the scraps (dihabetla) which remain (Perf.), so that nothing may be lost." (John 6: 12)

lit., new ones, is commonly used for,young

Note the trvo rather sim'ai ..,o.d., rentszt,i

(or kjd) (pru. majtor rock' and lentswe (p\u. mantswe) r,oice.Apart from the final vo'el:-,distinguished by the tone-pattern;in the former rvord it is (roughly) h::in the latter it is low-high.I lemoga is to knorv by intuition orinsight, to perceive; see Luke _and ,'\cts 10: 3.{ in Setsrvana Bible,r,vhere ,il..uo.i l. *.r..rifr..a.-means to recognise a person, as distinctfrom the knorvredge of t,i- -.,,conleled by thc r,i.ord ilse.9 dibata are the small carnivorousanimal ., tlibatana are the iarg_.(we shall see late r that this is a reversalof the general usage; Lesson 3*.]0 Note the narratit.e tenses in thissentence.11 iila and bolaila,-typicaiApplied forms. Lit., they ate her i ,,her, i.e., simply, they ate her food.bne could 4revol.o raJ',uy, Lrqiri 'luaUa t.r,; j,.__:i" utJbut it would not be such good Tsrvana12 ruriwhen used iike this i'ith boliraor nyitita requires that the::be in the Applied form, hor,,a and.nyitititn. o ts,.meetse ruri,he has gor.. , -,sone away for ever; so nyetetetse ruri, disappe."d f;;;;;;,

r:::

,,,

.",-.

i?lf,ili.1314

lJote dipiba

tse dintsithe rse can oftt.n be used instead of t:_:.:;lekau is a lad, a stripiing;lekolwaneis a big strong youngma:_v'ith dibatana above, note 9, this is u.-.e'e.rurof the usua"r r.-"?rii."'_,

AND NON-EXISTIiNCE: teng AND

yi

There is another u'ay of expressing the absence or the non-existence

anything, besides the formula ga go l1a sepi . . . dipi . . . etc. (Lesson i"This takes the form of a sort of negative verb ,to be, ; ga se yd, etc.; the r,,,verbal in nature.(There is an affirmative form of this, but it is hardly ever used; the *c,le-yd means being, existence. For instances of its use, see yohane I: 1, 2, 1,The negative form hor.r'ever is very common. study the following examp__,carefully, which show the rvay in rvhichyd is used, and also rvhat corr.,ponds to its affirmative, the rvords teng and gdni.a dilipi di teng (: gdni)? are there anv axes here (there)?

(It

should be explained here that teng and gdni can be translated either heriThe u'ords do not indicate nearness or distance, but simply the p..,sence or absence of something at whatever place is being spoken of or thous:about. The context decides.)

T'ranslate into Setswana:

1 As r,ve were gathering at the kgotla this morning, lve heard the cockscrowing. 2 The case was very long, so we are all hungry. 3 The sun\\-as very hot also, but there was no one to fetch us water. 4 please let me

Lessdn 28

13'2

see your letter again, that I rnay not forget the namc of youl husband.These naughty boys have taken all the eggs that rvere in the duck's nest. 6 Tother day they were ali there together (mmdgd), now they aren't there. 7 Ithis hammer and this saw in that box; leave the other two saws (put in Passi,on the table that they may be sharpened. 8 She is looking for work at Joh

son's so that she can get a lot of money. 9 Lock (plu,), here's a liou's ti,(track, trail, spoor, motlhalt) ; let us follow it rvitli the dogs. i0 Somethe men are rvorking with picks, others are using (dirist) spacles, and othcrs r,,doing nothing. 1.1 How many large nails have you bought, Olehotse ?I've bought twenty-six large ones for 2f3, and some other smail ones for sixpen .13 I asked for them at Parker's but they said there weren't anv. 1+ \..15 We rvcrc dclar-girls, why have you come late (diiga, Applied form) ?

(dia) by i'r,aiting for our big sisters. 16 We don't like this ncu' store-keei',-:he is very cross (bogale) .17 Also there is nothing that u.e rvant in his str':.:1tJ We r,vent to the school to look for the teacher, but we found he wasn't th.:.19 Some tribes like to build rvith brick and stone, others like reeds rvhich gri'=oin the river-valleys. 20 We can't buy fish here(mono) for there are no ri'r't iin rvhich fish could be found. 11 2l Let's go to the church this eveni:::to listen to the two ladies singing; they have very nice voiccs. 12Notes

1 i i is a convcrsational forrn of nnyat-see Lesson 5. The trvo --parate vorvels are dilTerent in tonethe second much lower than the first.2

bupe, bctupe, boupi,

are alternative spellings reflecting dialectic proru:-

ciations.

3 simologa is the intransitive verb corresponding to simobh and is u-<.:

of anything which starts, or commences, or begins, of itself.a dia is the simple transitive verb from which diiga comes; it means:.retard or keep back anyone or anything; lot ntia means, you are delayinq :udetaining me.

5 Note

that kana

is used to introduce a statement with a ccrtain t-. -

clamatory or expostulatory force; frequently it is untranslatable. It is similar ana of Lesson 18, Note 3. This ivord, however, has other uses besides tt:.and other meanings.6 mobentlele or mcbenkele or rabentlele is a noun (Class I) from the ii:*ported word for store or shopi.e., it meanS store-keeper.7 dintshwana, irregular-plural of dushwana a small spoon; dusho a la-.(porridge) spoon. (There are various forms of this word.)e This construction corresponds to 'rvhether , . . or whether . . .e lobaka in the sense of opportunity, occasion, chance. The actual rr=treads "kwa . . . bo tla bong bo se yd gdni." This is better Setsrvana, but the li::lgiven in the Exercise is also admissible, and avoids the difficult idiomatic r"'which will be studied much later.10 o na a letse is really in form a Pluperfect tense where he had L,:,1 1mono mearrs here, in this place, but refers to a large place or ai:;*such as village, town, countryside: ,fa and fano refer to a small or limited a;e*-

.,"'.,rlti,rl,

Less0n

2B

133

or the immediate vicinity of the speaker. You don't say tla mono; yov say tlai.e., in these parts here u-e havekwano, But you can say ffiono ga re bone pulano rain. Inside a house one could say, Jano go lef.f. jang, how dark it is in here.12 There is another common word for evening-time, besides maabanyane i it is rnaitisd, which comes from go itisa, meaning to spend the evening hoursbefore bed-time in some social occupation. Its reference seems originally to beto sitting round the fire in the front court, talking or telling stories: maitisd isthis pleasant evening-time, or the actual occupation or conversation itself. (Theverb is used in Lesson 45.)

more generally, something which took place during the day previous to last nighti.e., during yesterday;

rrioletseagorogile;a

my fatherday.Moegepeto

l{a-

came (has come) yester-

. . . as you (have) killed the Egyptian yesterday.

Surely I have seen yesterday theblood of Naboth . . .

tlhdla we have had in Lesson 25 (see Note 2) in the sense of ,visiting,

or 'having a look at' something. Actually this verb has many meanings:here we consider its use as an Auxiliary. Like tala it implies duration or passageof time; but in this case day-time instead of night-time; it means,pass the day','spend the day', 'continue doing', or 'carry-on,"Bogolo o tlhdla ha kzua ga gabd"(Mekgwa le Melad, p. 1S);ba tlhotse letsatsi jotlhe kwa nokeng;

(1)"ba . . .

mostly he spends the day at home.

they have spent the whole day at the

river.

Used as Imperative or Indicative:

tlhdla ba dira jato go ya

IIIISS);8

tshokologong" (Padisd"go no go se na opi yo o

ka tlhblang

they went on doing so

until the afternoon.

all

day

there was no one who could any more

bind him."tlh6la u re femetse mo bosuleng,,; defend us all this day from evil."ka ba tlhdla ba ntse ha nthaya ba re for all the day long they continue. . ." (Pesalema 42:3); esaying to me . . .mo

goliga" (Mareko

5: 3);

(Note the main verbs in the Perfect in these last examples.)

'$

f,esson 29

136

(2)

Like lala

it is used much in the

Perfect, generally follorved by a Pr:

fect, but sometimes by a Present:

ntoruti. o tlhotse a rutile bana;

the teacher has been teaching childr.:

(all day long).

(The otl"rer common use of tlhila, in tl"ie negative, meaning 'r1o morelonger',is dealt lvith separately in Lesson 't0.)'nomeaning remain or stay bchind, lve have had from Lcsson 7 ons'irrselse, is used, zrs an Auxiliary l'erb, to indicate that son:tiring has already been clone or acccornplished:.sa,la,

But its Perfect,

thcy havc already corne.

bu setse ba. tsile;

rona bu re setseilg re lemile;nttn.e

'nve

ini o ilo a setse a ngwegile;

(In forrn this last is really

Pluperfect:

rvho har,e alrcady ploughed.

but he had by this time run

a\vA\

see Lesson 3'1.)

II

[{any cases of nouns u,hich are obr.iously formccl from 'n'erbs have alrr;see, for eranple, the Noteoccurred in the coursc of thc Lessonscognatc objects, Lesson -5. Nearlv all verbs can make nouns, some of them:veral ciifferent nolrns; to grasp thc principles of their formation is 1o acquir- host of ne\v nouns to aclci to one's vocabulary.In this Lesson r,i.e shall consiclcr the Agent Nouns, those n'hich indicetc :doer of the action of the verb; they naturally fall into the first noun-cl:rss.

Tl-re general practice has alreacly been noticecl; i.e., a mo or ltt is prefi'-.to the active r.erb, and the final r.orvcl of the lattcr is changeil to ar:

An initiai 6- in a verb, hou,evcr, cloes not ilccord rr,ith the rz of the n

prefix, and tlte mob- is cliangecl to ntm : this has alreacly been tnentic,: .(see Lesson 12, Note 11, and Lesson 16 I C). But notice that the piural p:.'6a is retained in full beforc the 6- of the verb:mmatli, ba.batli, seeker(s), from go batla, to seek, seeh for.mmaahnnyi, babankanyi, preparcr(s), from go haakanya, to make readr'.

tI

Lesson 29C

t37

When the last consonant of a verb, before

the final vowel _a, rs l, this haschanEep8e to a -d before the now changed end_vowel _a,in order a

to

the syllable{da,rwhich is anathema to SetswanJ:

Jr

*ok*iii,t

il

moremi, baremi,ntmoni, baboni,

II

FbF

hewer(s),seer(s),

mmadi, babadi,mmoledi, baboledi,

to write.

to sing.

from go

rlma,

fuom go

bdna, to see.

and the

to hew or chop down.

reader(s),teller(s),

I both these,; ;;;;";;:from go bala, to read.from go

boliia,

to t"ii.

There is one set of exceptions to the rure of

the i ending for the noun.{hen an object is intimatery connected with the predicate verb,

the finarvowel- of the latter remains o and. ti"noun and verb together form a sort of compound noun, which is best written hyphenated:

Translate into Setsu,ana:

1 Aii of you who are witnesses, each one must speak the truth whichknorvs. 2 A11 day we have been thirsty; at noor we came to (zoita) a cerr:-:rvell, but there was no water in it at all. 16 17 3 There is no onewho c.:

plough in the winter; no ploughing can be done (impersonar, passive)

withirain. ,l Wherever this great singer goes, people rejoice to hear him. :

My aunt (father's sister) yesterday borrorved (perf.j four of our pots she;she r'vill bring them next week. 6 There are twelve months in each

s.

vea--

7 each month has thirty days or thirtv-one days : g but there is one mon:.rvhich is called February which has oniy twenty-eight days. 9 Fivemonriof this year have already passed; there remain1go ittsts slven months. rBourteacherto-dayhas toldus two new proverbs, tut I have forgotten oneof the::_11 one of them told about a lamp and a pioneer. re 12 Do you rememt"=:it? No, I also have fbrgotten that one. 13 The traveller travelied all winte.in the month of August he began to return to his own country. r+ ye.I slept rvell last night, but all day I have been troubled with (by) .rry ears; thr-rare very sore. i5 The magistrate and his three clerks have beenajl dar-.:the case about r'r'hich they rvere tolcr by the chief, 20 16 when thelanwent out, I{otlalepula had already washed up all the plates.2r 17 To"_toises live in the long grass; they walk very srorvly. 1g whenthe messenst:.arrived, he found that the thief had already made his escape (ngusigo).Have you (sing.) seen all the tultures eating the horse which was killidturt .,ie..by the leopards ? 20 our scouts (pathfinders) will play football this afte. noon r.vith those rvho corne from Mochudi. 21 I tt,int that the policemervill keep guard on (disa) the prisoners all night. zz..

Notes

For other instances see Genesise 28: 11 and, 24: 54.

For e rile see Lesson 33.For similar examples see I Sam. lS: II and, 31 : 12.4lala u rdbali sentli co.Jd be used in special circumstances only;by a nurse to a patient, and would mean, 'rie clorvn, and go to sleep niceiy'.t

7 The word maabane here is redundant, as the idea is included in the

tshokologd (chokotogd) means the turning point

- i.e',mid-afternoon.buthowever,not midday,s ba ntse ba. . . is a verbal form r.r'e have still got to study.

of the

sun:

lo mokala is the Acacia girafiae, generally knou'n as the camel-thorn.

In the North it is called the mogdtlhd tree.11 kwa ntli ga, without ; it means literally, and is used in that sense,to the outside of. (Exactly as 'v.ithout' also used tr) mean 'outside of'.) Notethe difference in tone between ntli meaning beautiful and rili meaning outside.12 Literally the 'rvay-shott'ers' and the 'way-takers', the Tsu'ana formsof the names 'Pathfinders and'V,Iayfarers', rvhich rvere given to the African Scoutsand Guides in the earlier years of the movements. The prefixes le- antT mafollow the pattern of the Tswana age-grade or regimental names.13 See the modern Engiish equivalent K"y to Exercises.

1'4 Another proverb; literally, 'The- rvinter tortoisc is knorvn by the

one lvho placed it there.' (Tortoises do not move about in tl-re winter.) The

implication of the saying is that, rvhen ar.rything cannot be fbund, the only personlikely to find it is the one rvho has kept it.15 aitse, aitsane, are idiomatic semi-exclamations, difficult to render byone or two lvords ; they have the force of 'please remembe r that . . ,' or 'you mustrealise that . . .', or 'I'm calling your attention to the fact that . . .', or, 'I'm tell-

in this sentencc, rvith different meanings'

re 'fhe proverb is Motlapele

after

him; as English rvould say, he blazcs the trail.

tlhotse-tlhotse (see Kev to Exercises) can bc used of an activity

20

d'

that

took up all or most of the daytime. Such reduplications of verbs are common inTswana, but one cannot use them u'ithout some experience. (See Luke 24: 18.)2r Note (see trans. in the Key to Exercises) that 'lsrvana often puts inthe impersonal 'it is'- in cases like this: 'u:hen (fa) ... it is that (ke'a ke. . .' Or it can be regarded as a shortening of he go re . ' .22 A prisoner is either a mogolegui (plu. &a-), or a legoligwa (pl.u. ma-)'Actually the latter is the commoner of the two.

NOUNS FROM VERBS

(2)

much-used verbal form is of the type ga. ba ise ba je, meaning 'they arenot yet eating', i.e,, 'they have not yet eaten'. It has three elements; (1)the chief characteristic is the word ise, (2) the negative ga generally (but noialways) precedes the phrase, and (3) the main verb itself is in the negative.In practice this becomes a sort of negative of the Auxiliary setse which we

have had; but grammatically it is not actually such. The ese cannot be regardedas an Auxiliary verb.sometimes (as in most pre-1937 literature) this word is written ese, but itis probably better to spell it ise, and this is the custom to-day.The phrase we are considering is used very commonly in the present tense,

fairly often in the Past-indefinite, and occasionally in the Future tense. Itspurport is clear and definite, although variously translatable in English as ,notyet', 'never', or 'before', according to its context.

Present tense:

"lobaka lzaa me(Yohane 7: 6);r

ga Io

ise

la tle"

"a ga lo ise lo lernoge?" (Math. 16:

9)

my time has not yet come.

do you not yet perceive

ga ke ise ke bone motho yct o tshzaa- I have never seen anybody like himlnang nai, gopi!-fhe ga is omitted whenthe phrase is in a dependent sentence or clause,

and the meaning is then best rendered by the word ,before':

a re tshabeng ka bonahd, ba ise ba relet us run away quickly, before theybone;see us (or, while they have not yet

"

seen us.)ga Kgame a busa dingwaga Kgama's son reigned two years, anddi le pedi, a swa a ise a tsale ngzoana" died before he had begotten a son.(Padisd IV 139) ;(Lit., he had not yet . . .)"

)igwana

zaa

Past-indefinitetense:

"lobakalzt;a gagwilo no lo ise lo tle',

his time had not yet come.(Yohane 7: 30);"Yesu o na a ise a fitlhe hwa motsaneng" Jesus had not yet arrived at'the village.lYohane 11: 30);

There is also a Future, which, however, we will only note in passing at

this stage, as it involves a usage of bo, to be studied much later:ba tlaa bo ba ise ba goroge ha mosd;to-morrow they probably will not yethave arrived.

Lesson 30

142

il

NOUNS FROM VERBS (2) What might be called 'neuter roui.:

nouns which are neither active agents like those formed by prei.

_"

or ba, nor necessarily passive as those formed from the passive verb), ar.from many verbs to indicate the action itself of the latter. These nou:,.no prefix, i.e., they fall into Class V, having their plural in di; the onlr _ -_in the verb itself is that the final a is changed to cr-and occasionally to o.from phuthiga, to become gathered, rve har.e pluthigd, a gathering; fror:mila, Io care for, rve have tlhdkdmild, care or attention.But, in the case of most verbs, a permutation of the initial consona:.: :,,place rvhen a nourr of this nature is formed; these are identical rvith thc p. tions rve hacl in l,esson 16.i::

Typicalverb:

rneaning

araba

to answer;to tell;to reward or

bolilu,

tluila,fodisa,gopola,

htonaniga,lekola,rekisa,simologa,

(shupa,2(fenya,

V nounlbrmed from it:Class

of verb:

karabd, an answer.polild, a telling, storv.pay

tuild,

reward, payment.

to cure or heal;to think;to become poor;to visit a sick person;

phodishi, cure, hcalinq.

to sell;to begin, commence;to point to, shou';to conquer, subdue;

thekishd, sale, seliing.

kgupoli, thought, opinion.

hhumanigd, poverty.

tekold,

a sick-visit.

tshimologd, a beginning.

chttpd, shorving, evidence.

when the neuter noun is formed. 'fhe verbs ending in -aya form th. - - ,r:noun in either of two $,ays: tsaya, baya, etc. form the nouirs lsdd and:.tsama))a and bolaya form the nouns (w)tsamai and polad. 'fhis is . _.might expect, from the negative Present and the Passive forms of thc.. i:*::L::::::

(Lesson 13

C.)

There are a very ferv irregularities in the formation of the type of .- -..have been considering, but they can bc mastered ."r,hen they appear.ExERCISE

1 Mother, let me come inside quickly before the boys catcir me. 2 T'hechurch-people (mophuthegz) were praying in silence before the minister entered.3 Notice of each marriage must be made on (ka) three Sundays (tshipi), beforethe wedding takes place (ima) .4 This man, r,r-ho has already been paid byus, has told his chief that he has not had anything. 5 'fhe rvoman's daughtersays her mother is not yet sixty-five. 6 "Jesus said to his disciples, Theharvest truly is great, but the workers are fe-'v: 7 so (ke gdni) pray to theLord of the harvest that he send workers into his harvest." (Luke 1O: 2) te8

You must know that, by rights, the receiving of strangers is a great thing for

Motswana. 9 The beginning of the poverty of many people is the drinking

ko . . .) of beer. 10 We who have remained in this place, it is because we have

not yet had release from our debts. 1i A good victory is that rvhich is obtarned (bdna) without the killing of many people. 12 Will the prisoners notrejoice in the day of their release? 13 Yesterday lve heard the sad story ofthe loss (destruction) of all my father's (elder) brother's huts.2o 14 Innyopinion it rvas a nice ivedding; the bride and her bridesmaids (basupi) weredressed in beautiful white dresses. 15 Why doesn't your elder brother thankhis uncles (father's brothers) for all these fine gifts ? 16 The woman, whohas been kept busy (tshzlariga) all day at her work(s), did not hear the thief comingin. l7 Let us (two) hang up the springbok on that tree there, so that wecan skin it.18 What's the time, Tshwene ? Haven't you gone to get the postyet ?19 I am afraid to ask for medicine for you without a letter and somemoney to pay for it.20 He has changed a lot, your young brother; I failedto recognise him.Notes

to

In these examples from the Bible tbe

Whenever the

s is dialectically

(as

consonant of the noun is the corresponding ch

It

ese

of the latter has been changed

ise.

in the Southern tribes) an s/2, the

chupd.

Lesson 30

t+4

34

is long ago; -kgologolo, with prefixes, means old.

Masarwa (singular Mosarwa, not Lesarwa), are the Kalahar :Kgalagadi) bushmen. (These four sentences are more intent on grar:_on history!)5 rdba is to break off something; hence, to reap or harvest, i_-- .of grairr or the cobs are broken off the stalk. The noun thdb6 means - .. iibogologolo

,,

of grain.

Note the u dumili, greetings to you

second person singu-. _ ,- meant,greetingsative. If it had been a a dumili, it r,vould haveto :,:ba dumili, greetings to them. ('I'he one rvho is to convev the greetine. -r,,,,rEe, ba tlaa dumilathey will be greeted.)7 leboga, to -give thenks, is used both in the present and p.: ._leboga, ke lebogile. The latter however, just like the French ,merci', o.'-:'no thank you', when one is offered something. Note that leboga takt. *

object the person thanked

a It is polite to address, or refer to, a person by his tribal n.:_,

that of the tribal totem, the serdtit or sebdko. You address one of th; : "tribe as Marolong or Thdld; one of the Bangr.vato (Bagammanglvato) as -'_' .",,,:.or Phuti (or Mophuting); one of the Bakgatla as X,Iokgatla or Tshwene; . :The chief of a tribe is of course in a special sense the Mokwena or -,or Mokgatla, and is often spoken of as such, rather than as Kgosi. the designation of the Scottish clan chiefs, the Nlacleod, the Macphe:. :,,,,

r:::rr:::,:l

s tshzoara (chzaara) is to catch or hold or keep; the Stative fc= ,,,i,,,

riga is to be in a held or caught position; hence, to be busy with, or - :..:r,i,,,leave, something.

t0

lsio is a marriage or a marrying; the wordkimd is used for t---. ,*.

rvedding ceremony, from go ima to stand, because of the standing of l.-.. ,:ri::before the minister or magistrate. The verb itself is used of this .:"::iin this technical sense. (The word nyald is also used for a marriage.)11 piga is to hang up anything; it also means to mount a pi:_i..:vehicle or riding animalLuke L0: 34, a mo piga r,to peleseng )ta a_,_-,:i:mounted him on his own beast. (onpelesa see Note 17 below.) wher - -,,r,,,r,.:i;:i:

-,of the recording of names of persons \vanting to be married, for the crl'-::

:rF:

.:

banns.

12

jang, an 'eating spoon', is the Tswand for .dess.:: ,:lr=

as loswana lo lotona is a 'table spoon', and loszaana la tee is a ,tea sp , _ Note last Lesson on this word; luszuana is the form in many places.13 ipa (dilg) is also the term for the summoning of the pil,,,or tribal gathering at the chief's kgotla. The latter is not often reje ,-.loswana lo lo

:r,;inii,!rc,,,,,

phuthigd.14 kg\tha is to pay a tax, lekgithd is the tax so paid.15 pus6, from busa to rule or reign, is norv-a-days generalll'rf,i.: iriGovernment or Administration rather than of the rule of a chief.

:ii:

Lesson 3016

ka tshwanild can be translated 'by rights'

properly as they ought to be done.

17

pholo

is a

t4s

i.e.,

if

things are done

castrated trek-ox; an uncastrated animal, kept for stud

purposes, is a pd6. (The word pelesa is also used of draught animals, but strictlyspeaking refers to a ridden animall see Note 9 above. It comes from go belesato saddle.)18 (See Key to Exercises.) The proverb expresses surprise or expostulation at some unexpected disagreement between close friends or colleagues;'what has caused this division in our ranks ?' The word more rfieans a tree-itis often synonymous with setlhare-and also a tree-root or plant-root. Hencemeans concoctions rnade from herbs or trees' not so much healing medicine asthose to work harm -- tnere is practically equivalent to poisons'"fhe word kala has three meanings. (1) It means a tree-branch, as here inthis proverb . (2) It means the tick-bird rvhich accompanies the rhinoceros,or other large animal, and lives on the parasites which infest it. Hence, (3) it isused of the confidential advisers or retainers of a chief, those men who are alwaysround him to serve or seek favour, and incidentally to get a living out of it" So

it

*,hen a retainer or sycophant falls out with his master and leaves hirn, the proverb is quoted, kala e kgaoganye le tshukudu! the tick-bird has deserted its rhino.19 Note that, as in the case of leboga,yourapila a person, andyourapilila for something.

20

Notice the distinction between nouns from Active verbs and thosefrom Passive or Stative verbsl tshenyd ya me is my destroying, i.e., the destruction I cause ; tshenyigd ya ilxe is my being destroyed, i.e., the destruction I suffer.And tshenyigild is the loss itself rvhich I bear: the word is often used (in plural)

2 Kea leboga, Mokwena ; a u setse u mo rometse

QUALFICATIVES (ADVERBS OF MANNER,

'fIME,

PLACE)

We have already had, in tire course of the Lessons, a numbef of adl'erl.

but rve have taker-r them in our stride rvithout considering their natr::Suclr are jalo, jaaha, jaana, jaanong, jarLg? gap|, sentli, thata'56s', just as we sa\\i that there are ver-v few true Adjectives in Tsrvana, su:larly there are not many n'ords that couid accurately be called true Adver:''lhere are ho."r.ever a number of them, such as those listed above. For the rc.qualification of a verb or a predicate is effeetecl in one or other of the follor.''-.lvays.

very much, exceedingly, excessively.

'I'he Aa is often omitted in this construction, and abstract nouns can be

"Petere a tswila kzoa tftli, a lelago botlhoko" (Luke 22: 62);

the

mo

Peter went outside, and wept

'-.'!

bittee

kafa . . . -ng ka teng (gdnd). This apparently clumsy construi=o*{'

in which the verb, taking the Relative -ng ending, is sandwiched bei-t'*lltlka,fa and. the ha teng (or ka gdni), indicates the *ay or manner of an a-=nm

==f

I*II

-:

Lesson 31

====*.:=:===..:

kafa lo dpilang ka teng,

let rne hear how (in rvhat manner) you

sing, children.

kafa re dPilang ka teng (ot

this (that) is how we sing, moruti.

mmang ke utlwi

bana;/<e

gind

ka gbni), rnoruti;

milkfa i mpotsa kafa mafshi a tshologileng if you ask me how the...spilledkagdnd...Note that in English one r.vord does duty for ail the three 'horn's' similar usages:

I see (him) where he has gone.

I don't know where I am.

ke mmdna kwa a ileng teng (gdni);

"ga ke itse fa ke leng teng"(Padisd III199)

;gbnd, rra;ke gdnd ke la bolililang ' . .;ee,

==

ke

gangzne, gangwe

:=

.fila,

gararo,

gani,gatlhano,garataro,

==

yes,

once.twice.thrice.four times.five times.six times.

go le gannye, go le gobdtlana;go le gotona, go le gogolo;

gali;le gali;ka gali;mo go

==-:.

tell you " . .

gasu?a'

seven tlmes.

gabofira-mebedi, eight

times.

gabofira-mongwe, nine times.

'gasom\,

ten times.

gasomi-le'motsd, eleven times.

etc"

etc'

many times (-zlsi, Lesson 24, Note 6).

how many times ? (Lesson 24 Il B).a little, slightly.much, a great deal.formerly.just so ! but even so . . .

gakae, gakaye?

=:===.

sir.

Notice also the foilowing:

gantsi,

:::=

just so,

so (therefore)

From the nurnerals are formed, by prefixing ga-, adverbs which indicatethe nunrber of times an action has been done:gabedi,

=.=:

got

the,descriptive how', the 'interrogative how ?', and the 'exclamatory how!' In Tswanathe first is quite a difierent construction from the others' Note also the following

:=:=*:=

t47

always.as much as that.

kalo;

if they can properly be so called:

they have gone far away.ba ile kgakala thata;the town was not far from the river.lenoka;motse o no o se kgakalatown was near the river.thenaka;gaufilemotse o no a leof, behind, the house.frontinntlo;pele ga, moragd ga,above...,below...ga..kwatlasehwa godimo ga. . . ,Adverbs of place

inside the house.

mo teng ga ntlo;fa gare ga sehgwa;

(:

mo bogart'ng (garing.) ga . .fa gare ga sekgwa Ie noka;

inside, in the middle of, the forest.

.

in the middle of . . .)bet'ween the forest and the river.

Lesson 31

148

'l'lrere are also one or two adverbs of time

on';

kganteli and kgabagare, l\ic-

the iatter word indicates a rather 1o:..

used rather loosely. These are -,:,theyarebutformer,thethanlapse of tirnc

Translate into Setswana:

2 But why do vou I 3 The fault is yours. '. . ',.

too impatient; you do not study patiently. .t Without patience you -r:i-ri..become educated people. 5 Of course, your teacher should not de. r:you hardheartedly. 6 This year \ve have ploughed only a little; tr-:were tveak, they r,l'orked very slorvly. 7 When I went to the kgotla thising, an old man u'as speaking angrily, but nobody paid any attention :8 Horv do you know where your (sing.) mother is living ? 9 Durine :-'1

When shall we get a nice kind teacher ?

grumble wilf1lly like that about your teacher

::r:

ye:have been looking for that letter many times, but I have not found itYesterday the magistrate spoke sincerely with the people, and advised the:: :rrr"they should act. 11 The minister also begged the people not to do a:-- :

irrrilri

liiiitiii

Lesson.]l

t49

hastily. 1'2 The clerk says he had great difiiculty to hear what the old womansaying. 13 "simon Peter said to the other disciples, I am going to catchfish. 1.4 They said to him, And we will go with you. 15 So they setout, and went into a boat; L6 But that night they did not catch anything."(John 20: 3,4)1,7 Let us see what you have in that bag, Moremi; is itsomething that can be eaten? 1s How often did the bell ring? was it sixor seven times ?19 I did not count carefully, s but I think it rang nine times.(Either Perfects or Past-definites.) 2a I taught this girl yesterday how a fireis lit, but she has forgotten it already.to 21, you (sing.) who have not yetrvas

learned, tell me how you can manage to drive a lorry

?t

Notes

Very many human qualities are ascribed. to such-and-such a sort of

heart. Look up pelondld, pelonorni, pelontli, pelotshweu, pelonamagadi, pero-ethata, pelo-e-maszai, etc, All these can take the bo- prefix, in which case the pof pelo is often assimilated to the consonant of the prefix, so that the word becomesbobelonomi, etc.

2 Note the adverbial phrase for unwittingly i.e., ,by lacking to know'.3 Lit., equal to one bowl. One could also- have said., metse a a hanangka mogopo o le

mongzae,

tshutara bothata is a common idiomatic phrase, meaning

difficuity in doing something.

to have great

etsa means to imitate consciously; it is therefore not quite the same

. Moetsi is one who imitates another.motsomi appears in some dialects as motsumi. (cp. motaudi, pudi, etc.)

as tshwana le .

67I

Lit., beer of the vine.

Note the importunity, in face of Jesus,s apparent reluctance to

act,

correctly conveyed by the exigent Imperative here.

e There is a compound verb, go ila tlhdhd which means very much the:ame as tlhdkdmila; its noun is hildtlhdkd.l0 Note the objectival pronoun of Class X here.

AUXILIARY VERB ba ; NOUNS FROI4 VERBS (3)

Another important Tswana Auxiliary verb is 6a. It is a 'pure' Auxiliary,in that it has no other usages or meanings; it stands alone among tlre Auxilcaniary t erbs in this respect. It exhibits the various forms of a true verb anda copulative orbe used in the difierent tenses and moods. Its force is that offollow oneconjunction, and it is used to connect verbs expressing actions whichbe transanother or are connected with one another. sometimes it should notlated; at other times it can be translated by'also" or'again" or simply'and''

All the names of the months have some relevance to the season; e.g., Phalaneisthe month when theyoung Impala(pha!a) are born; Mosbtlha is the monthwhen the yellow flowers of the Mosetlha tree (Peltophorum africana) are out.The student should elucidate as many of the other names as he can. ProbablVngwanaaitslili is the full form underlying ngwanatslli'ExERcisE

'franslate into Setswana:

What rvill you make (betla) fbr me rvitit your ne\v sa\,\. and hamnrer,2 Please cut up this cloth for me rvhich rny mother sent rne yesterclay (pr-rt in Passive) ;3 cut it carefully, and sew it witli skill, and use rhesebuttons (konopi) and this thread" 4 For my part I don't beiieve that thisletter comes from your uncie (mother's brother), lbr it is not written in hisliandrvriting. -5 We began to plough in the month of November, but nowthe u'ork is at a standstill (e eme) for u'ant of rain (ka go tlhdka . ..).ts6He is a bad-hearted boy, and he does not speak the truth, and aiso he is verv],Iolefe

greedy. 7 I

have been bothered u'ith a pain-in-the-chest all dav; 8 I

don't think I shall sleep to-night if you refuse me medicine. 9 Tell the rvomenthat u'e do not knou'r,vhere \\'e are, that is rvhy (holv) we are askir.rg the \\,ay. 1610 [s it vou rvho spoiled this honey, Sechele ? 11 No, mistress, it rvasn'tme; I don't knorv hou' it got spoiled like that. 12 i\Iy friend, you have madea great mistake; tell your father, and ask forgiveness" 17 13 \{y grandfatherdied yestcrday, before my father came home. 14 He said that all Moselesele's oxen have died, and he said also that he rvill have great difficulty to get(senka) tax this vear. 15 Last year it u'as very hot in l)ecentber, before therains fell. 16 Monare, rve cannot grind our mealies, because our arms aresore. 18 1i My husband's people live between \llolepolole and Gaberones;18 they live near the lands which they plough, 19 rnoreover (thev are)near their cattle-post, they are not far from the big river. 20 I tvas unable(: failed) to come vesterday to see you about my son.

Notes

ha appears in second plural Imperative in Ruthe l: 11, Naomi a re,

Baang lo bo|, bomorwadiaka. There seems here to be little or no con junctir cirnport in the verb.2 There are two r,vords, spelt in the sarne way, trut with different meanings; they are distinguished by their tones: setlhabi meaning a sharp pain (generally in lungs or chest) is loiv-high or low-mid in the last trvo syllables; whilesetlhabi meaning a thing u'hich pierces, an instrument to pierce with (a 'goad';I Sam. 13: 20, Acts 26: 14), is high-mid or mid-low on the last rwo syliables.

Lesson 32

155

Compare the two words spelt mctlhcba; the word meanin3 slttzC is high-mid'rn the last two syllables, that meaning the shoot or sprolrt of a plant is lo*-mid.)3 When nouns are formeci from verbs of the type tshela, sepela, etc.i.e. stem volvel or penultimate von'el e), the fitral I of the noun generally has a:etrogressive effect, raising the stem or penultimate e to at i, The result is:etshidi, tshepitli, etc.; indeed the usuai forms of the latter rvord is xhipidi. These:re not abnormal forrns or ercepticns; altircugh setshedi, etc., are also found. The:hange in vowei is exactly parallel to that rvirich occurs \a'hen bolila forms:he noun mmolecLi. (This change r,vould be clearer if the 'half-open' vor.velretween i znd elvere given a special symbol.)a In some -dialects the /o prefix seems to be disappearing, or at leest tore very unstable, its place being taken by /e" Thus one finds in eastern peripheraljialects of Tsin'ana leratd, leso, lekztald, etc, The longer the trvo prefixes can-'re retained and kept distinct, the beti.er; the loss of /o is an impoverishment ofihe language.5 The words for Saturday are, respectively 'rvashings' (i.e., the lvashingjay, when clothes were washed and ironed for Sunday), and 'cookings', i.e.'cooking day'.

6 go tztse (in past go tztse), is the Passive of a re, he says. It means there:ore, 'it is said . . .' : a re re yi sekoleng, he says we are to go to school; ga t?.ae re..i sekoleng, it is said we are to go to school, or, they say lve are to go to school.The phrase gatwe-gatwe means hearsay, as against certainty or knon4edge.

7 dilikiri (likiri) is an Afrikaans word; s\,veets.

, o go se? either with or r.ithout go re, is a common form of questionsceking agreement-'isn't that so ?' It often occurs at the end of a statement.L similar phrase, often occurring at the beginning of a sentence, is a ga ke re . .?I say...?' (a ga se? corresponds closely tothe French 'n'est-ce:as ?')n fo pele ga, before, is a Hebraism, it is not natural Tsnana.10 ba bi ... The copulative Auxiliary verb ba is one of the most im-

.iterally, 'don't

:ortant conjunctions in Tsrvana: the English copulative 'and' really needing

:everal different translations, according to contextlnme, or le, or 6a (in some:inse or mood), or an adverb" In the Setslr.ana Bible,unfortunately, the trans.ators follo.l,l'ed slavishly the originals (English 'and' from the Greek 'rcr,r'), which:erive from the characteristic Hebrein' 'lvau-consecutive', the idiomatic Semitic'.. avof connecting sentences. Hence every other sentence in the Bible com:rrences n.ith this m?ne . . . ?n?ne. ^ . mnrc. It is very bad translation, for ntme is:ar more of a disjunctive than a connective. .A11 these 'ands' should have been:ranslated by (1) omission, (2) Auxiliary verb ba, (3) jalo, jaanong, foo, etc. TheSesuto Bible translators seem to have got over the difficulty successfully within::,e Sotho idiom.

1 tslila

here means 'take for'; frequently, as we have already seen,

Note 16, Lesson 27, and Mareko 4: 25, etc.) it means to take alvay from.12 a re is often used, as here, as prelude to indirect speech; it is not:ecessarily followed by the actual words of the speaker.13 hong the form of this word used in B.P. is /oo. Here it adds emt

AUXILIARY VERBS re (1) AND sena

'i't" u"rb ri, rile, whtch we have been using since Lesson 17 II C in itsprimary meaning of 'say', is also used extensively as an Auxiliary verb,

with a different import. In this Auxiliary usage it is sometimes difficult to translate; but always there is the underlying idea of 'the time wheer' some actiontook place.

There are a number of highly idiomatic tenses of it, but most of these (suchas e re, e tlaa re, e tle e re, etc.), necespitate the use of the Habitual Mood, which

rve have not yet studied. For the present we rvill leave these aside, and confineourselves to two common forms which take the Indicative Present tense.

e rjJe is the impersonal concord e with the Perfect tense of re; and ya reis the same concord and verb in the Past-definite or Narrative tense. Although thus grammatically different, these tu'o forms are used interchangeably;there is indeed no difference between them. They both indicate that the action

of the main verb, which immediately follows, happened in the past; and, generally,happened as a prelude to, or in connection with, some other action.

"e rile

ba

fitlha (kwa)

moseja

ga

Lengau a raya bontsalai a re . . ."

rrlle);

noha, When they arrived on the other side

(Pad. of the river, Leopard said to hercouslns . .

a tla ka selipi, a fitlhila ba setse When he came with the axe, he

found they had already gone.ba tsamaile . . ." (Padisd III|38);"Jalo e rile a fitlha mo Galilea, Baga- So when he arrived in Galilee, thelilea ba mo tshola . . ." (Yohane 4:45); Galileans received him."yarebammdnakwamosejagalewatli, When they saw him on the other sideof the sea, they said to him.ba mo raya ba re . . ." (Yohane 5: 25);"e

rile

(Note that, in the third person singular, the pronoun rvhich follows theya re or e rile is always a, not o.)

But frequently the e rile or ya re is used idiomatically in a way that defies

translation; it indicates the fact of past time, but in a way that has noEnglish equivalent. Consider the following cases, where it rvould be unnaturalto put a 'when' or a 'then' in English:in the corn-time he said to him."e rile mo nahong ya mabili, a mo rayaa re . . ." (Padisd II 17) ;" e rile hwa moragd a fitlha hwa setlhaIn the end he came to the tree.ring" (Padisd IIl27);In the beginning the word . . ."e rile mo tshimologong lefoko(Yohane 1 : 1);

prefers to prefix such a phrase by e rile or .va re.

The verb which immediatery folrows the e rile or ya re is in fo:;

Present tense, and its pronoun or concord is in the present forithe exception, if it is such, of the a third person singular me'tionedin ,,A', .,but, after that first verb, all subsequent verbs in tl-," r"q.r".r"" are inthe N,-*-

. . ." (Padisb IIIIB5);

it after they have seen that

thekgengue melons are ." '

When the preparations had.been completed they were already tired '. ' (lit.,

it finished to be PrePared.)One day after he had hunted for

when"Letsasi lengwe fa a sena go tsoma kalobakanyana . .

."

(Padisd

III|97);

awhile...

be seen from the above examples that the best translation is generallythe English Pluperfect, and is of the type, 'when or after someone had done.o**thirrg . . .; The idea is always that of some action being completed, andbeing succeeded by some other difierent action. Note that sena plus the Infinitivecan sometimes be followed by a Present tense, as in the first two examples; aithough generally the actions are both in past time' 3There is no direct negative; for that the Auxiliary ese is generally used. Thus,the translation of 'before he sits down' or 'before he irad sat down', would bepele a ise a nne fa fatshe.

It will

This Auxiliary

'"8 rile

tla . . ;'

TshiPo

sena is much used

sena go tsaYa ,nega'

(Tshipidi 162);

"Ya re bosigo bongwe, go sena go fibalzoa

..

."

(Padisd

"E rile a sena

IIll1);

go bdna madi ao, a

tse-

nya mn kgetsing . . ." (Padisd IIl2S);a

with e rile

and ya te:

When (after) Springhare had got the

tails . .One night, when everybodY had gone

tosleep..,After (when) he had received thatmoney, he put it in a bag . . .

Ttans\ate into Setswana:

1 Tell me (sing.), how many bundles of grass have you prepared to-a=2 As I was going to the store, the Browns came in their motor-car, and i:-s,,qave me a lift.3 Thank you for these beautifui eggs, Mmaphuti; gir-e :''greetings to your sisters. 4 The doctor came to visit the old man th::':rlast Friday, and came again on Saturday. 5 If the rain comes before u-e L-i-',,finished thatching we will be in difficulties. 6 When (fa) yo:u (sing.) i-*.,.i

finished washing these pots, pour water into them, and put them on the :-:7 Your hat is very old, and it's worn out; when lvill you buy another one i :My wells have fallen in, Chief (Bangwaketse tribe) ; can't the Chief (i.e., ti-::rperson) help me with a water-barrel (shwaki) ?9 After his father died. r:went to live in Mafeking, and he stayed (nna) there a long time, 10 at*.*:fifteen years, before he returned to Phitshane. 1 111 When he arri-, trhome, and had greeted the chief, 1,2 he tolC his mother that (fa) he :,pr:(has) come tq take a wife. 13 In this place there is no green grass, there a:rno trees, birds don't exist; there is nothing but houses and people. 11 G;lrgreetings to the strangers; they can go anywhere they like in our town. .rWhen the old lady was (already) fast asleep, the girl slipped away (ngwlga), un-:w:by anyone (not seen by no-one). 16 She is a woman who knows well (h,:w.'

Lesson 33

161

to thatch, but she asks a lot of money. | 2 17 The whole tou''n was in greatsorrow on account of the death of the chief's mother. 18 One cannot(impersonal go and passive) travel by wagon in September, for the pans haveall dried up. 19 Each bundle of reed is 1/3, but they are very small bundles.20

The ants were running hither and thither, looking for their food.

Notes

tsinwa,

Iit.,

'entered'

as English has it, 'possessed'.

botsind, Padisd II126.

kgingwi, the edible

also an inedible

II

sort.

-- by some superhuman influence or spirit;

A mad person is a setsind.

See also tsenywe ke

wild melon of the Kalahari desert - there is

it is treated as a singular Class I or Class

For some reason

noun, as in this quotation.

3 It can also, when used with fa (or as rve shall see later on, with e tlaare), be followed by the Future tense; see sentence 3 in Exercise 65.a Notice that in this and numerous other cases, sena plus Infinitive ispractically equivalent to setse and the Perfect Indicative. go sena go rdbalzaa isalmost the same as go setse go robetszoe; and e rile a sena go bdna madi eould alsobe o rile a setse a bonye madi.5 tlhatlaya is to put anything on a fire to cook it is used either of thecooking-vessel or of the food in it. But it is r-rot used for, e.g., meat 'rvhich isput in the fire itself, or on the embers, to roast.6 Tswana often doubles verbs in this way, as rve have already seenNote 20 of Lesson 29. Here the reduplication indicates repeated or continuouse.g., rumaor ub:quitous action. Some verbs are habitually used like this

ruma, Padisd II f 17 .7 kwano le kwa or kusa le kwa, etc., means 'here and there', 'hither andthither', 'back and forward', etc.a palila (paletse) is Applied form of pala (padile). The latter is a usefuland rather idiomatic verb rvhich has not an easy English equivalent; it means'to be too much for', 'to be unmanageable', etc. For example if a man returnsfrom an unsuccessful attempt to persuade someone from doing something, hecould say, o padile, or o mpaletse. Or if a book is beyond one's understanding,one could say, loktuald lo lo mpaletse, or ke paletswe ke lohwald lo.9 mongwe ka ind is 'his neighbour' lit., 'the one by him'. So barttti.- baruti ka bdni 'their . . .'ka ini are'his fellow-ministers (teachers)', andro dtsila is to become drotvsy or sleepy; to nod u'ith drowsiness; butthulamila is to fall definitely and soundly asleep. The latter is an Initiative verb;itsila is seldom used in the Perfect tense,lt 'about fifteen years' is e ka ne e le dinyaga di le 15.12 The old Setswana thatching r'vas done, and still is, by women: themodern proper driven thatching is men's work.t3 segwaba is a merchant, one gaining livelihood or weaith by trading.(See Diphcshbphoshd, p. x, Agione '&-a seguaba, Aegeon the merchant of Syracuse.) The word does not mean a rich man, as such, or one rvho inherits wealth;it means a 'self-made' man, one who has used his brains and ability to enrich him-

162

Lesson 33

self or advance himself. (The Bangwato use the term segwabanyana of z

being sought in marriage, where the Bangwaketse would use mogametleM. le M. p. 23, 26.)

LESSON 34PLUPERFECTINDICATIVE,&NEGATIVE:DIIVIINUTIVESUFFIXis not, apartThere is a definite Pluperfect tense in Tswana, although itTheoccurrence'from the Initiative u.rb. (... below), of very commonfollowing are examPles of its use'Norv Elisha had sPoken with the"Mme jaana Elisha o na a buile le

.." (il

8: 1);letshoo, Yaalafile"Ka ,ke ne ke eIIl15);itumdla . . ." (Padisd

mosadi ,

Dikgosi

". . . go kea ka ka bbna makau a morina

,u)a nxe, a u no u a romile" (I sam,25: 25);

"...fo

maoto a me a ne a sempoloka" (Padisd III 182) ;

ka

woman whose son . . .

Because

I had healed

its Paw,

it

was

delighted.

I did not

see mY lord's Young

met"t

whom you had sent.

if

m1' legs

had not saved rne'

The tense is conjugated thus:

ke ne ke

rekile, I

had bought

rekile, You .onaarekile, hc...re ne re rekile, we . . .

u no u

ke ne ke se ka ka rika'il' no u se ka wa riha'

onaasekaarika,re ile re se ka ta rdka'

I had not

you...he...we..,

compounThe student may note that this tense has the appearance of beingrekile,Iookshe ne kecled of other Indicative tenses; the affirmative Pluperfect,Pluperfect, ke nenegativetheandtense:Perfectthepluslike the Past-indefiniteke se ka ka riha, look. Iik" the Past-indefinite plus the negative Past-definite'to memory'Such a statement is not a grammatical description, but an aid

The commonest use of this verbal form is in the case of the Initiativeverbs; u'e have had one or two cases of it already' (See Lesson 20'Note16.)ThePasttenseoftheseverbstakestheformofaPluperfect:

they are asleep (have fallen asleep)'

they were asleep (had fallen asleep)'I am tired (have become tired)'I rvas tired (had become tired)'it was broken'it was breaking')they u'ere not sleeping then'it was not then broken'

ile se sa rdblga, etc')

For the alternative form of the negative Pluperfect, see Appendix, Article

22.ThenegativePluperfectisnotinverycommonuse;aninstanceofit

Lessott 34

\6+

is gi"-en araong the exanp\es rn \ above. For geneta\, .had not..,, meaf,.'had not yet . . .' ; i.e., it refers to some action which had not then happenecbut which did finally happen; and in all such cases the Auxiliary-- ha n.e ba ise ba tle, they had not yet come.

the Pluperfect

z'se

is used, n;

Remember therefore that the Tswana Pluperfect only co'ers on dsper

corresponding English tense. The latter has to be rendered r:Setsu'ana accordirrg to the context.

of the

(1) he had dug the tre.ch

(2)

before

the o na a epile

mosili pula e

ise

e t:.

rain came,because he had dug a trench,

he ka a na a epile mosili, a se ko rain,

tshaba pula.(3) when he had dug the trench, he e rile (or fa) a sena So dpa most,.went away,a tsama)la,Note that if an English Pluperfect is preceded by ,because,, ,since,, ,tb:it corresponds to the Tswana Pluperfect; but if it is preceded by 'when', ',;'after', it <ioes not correspond rvith the Tsu,ana Pluperfect, but is translated bdid not

1'ear

senago....

II

DIMINUTIVES. In the last Lesson we had, in one of the examples, !',

word lobakanyana, translated 'a little time'. The ending -nyana, sufrr.to the word labaka, indicates smallness or shortness. (It can be added to otL::parts of speech besides nouns.) It is also possible to use pdtlana,-nnye, -ki:itshwane, and other adjectives; but this 'diminutive' ending is a very comm.:and useful one.

to t\re unmodrit:majoritY of cases the -nyana ending is addednoun thtts:

in this case, its first vor,vel -a- absorbs-or

of the noun, thus:

When the noun itself ends in -na, this is generally absorbed in the -zla";mosimane, mosim.anyana; mosetsana, mosetsanyana; ngzlan.a, lxgwanyana; ses;l'Lsesanyana.

lVhen the noun ends in -mo, -tttu, -me, this coalesces to form -lgrlcttithus:

kgomo, kgongzuana; molomo, molnngwana; loleme, lolengutana,

Lesson 34\\'hen the noun ends in -re, -ri, this

coalesces

165

to form -tshana; thus:

-rcre. setlhatshana; phiri, phitshana; pampiri, pampitshana.

\\'hen the noun ends in -pi, -pi,

-pi, this coalesces to form -tswana; thus'.

:"." selitswana; tshipi, tshitswana; molapd, molertswan.a. ('fhele is di{liculty-: the correct spelling of these diminutives; they also vary with the dialects.::- mogobe one can have mogojana, ruogojwana, and mogobjwarru; from mogopo,:,.trn bo\.vl, tnogocana, and mogopyana or mogopjwana.)

*r: u tshatsi madi

Translate into Setsrvana:

1 These little blankets are no use; we shall be cold all night.

the little girl had eaten all the honey, she ivashed the spoon and put ir

,: -:.

,,

board (kdbdtli) .3 I found no sour milk in the small basin; it had i';:. -,iby the littie boys. -[ Do you (plu.) know a little animal u&ich ha-. _,,_., ,,.a littie rnouth, and a little short tail ?5 Let him go to hercl the k-i;, .:

boys. 6 Aren't you (sing") rested norv I *i'

been sieeping ali day. 7 I couldn't do anything rdth that littte :yours, Galekhutle (transpose, using palila); 8 he .et'used to list::, :and slrut (kaba) his ears r,vith his fingers. 9 The leader had order.:diers to cross the little river, 10 but when they had tried six times :-". :it up 1- despair, tlhdbdga); l anc{ retired (returned) in hast. :bushes on the top of the hill. 12 'lhe kittens were playing with ti:.-: :.,,',,in the vard in front of the little hut. 13 We lvere prevented (p.;...,lambs with other little

,,,,,

,,

going to the lands yesterday, for the trek-oxen rvere lost,

1-l fi,,wearing a beautiful new dress at the shrw (tshupd) th s mrrnir.:g.one who san'it rvas very surprised, 16 tbr she had sewn that;:..,.beautilully (botswerere) in only a ferl, days (malatsi $dth dim.). t6,carpenter had made (betbla) me a Small table before he rnade that ch.,llt Do let me help you to put on that big pot; it is too (bobe) liear.r. : - ,

a transliteration of 'concert', than whicir Dothini ,

popular in school and village life. Note madi a a kzua tlase, low mo.:at a low price.kdnsata

5 A proverb;

rr,,=::

something like the proverb, 'a bird in the ha:-- ,. ,st:

two in the bush'.

6 mogobenyana indicates a smaller pan than does the word r:.'i..:@

so the two diminutives of this word are not synonyms, rnogojana or F;._::::,im-s#iimeans 'small pan', and mogobenyana means'very small pan',7 sala, remain, is an Initiative verb; therefore go setse, there ::i:,,riuim,,,,and go no go setse, there remained.

8e

mangawana, dim. of mangau, plu, of lengau.

tlh"ohile, lit., lackedi.e., missed, did not see.

?Lesson 34'lo11

t67

Notice the way that Tswana puts a sentence like this.

The old Setswana speech would here, I think, have undoubtedly

said, Nnyaa, mma, ke ne ke lapile thata, in answer to this question.12 lapologa is the Reversive form of lapa., and therefore means to 'becomeuntired', i.e., to become refreshed.13 dintsinyana, diminutive of dintsi i.e., a little many; hence, a few,or not very many.14 feld or gold, a plzce; it takes the concords fu go ; Jelb fa go siameng,a good place.

t5 Proverb, the meaning of which is that an animal with young is much

more \r'ary than one rvithout.16 botswerere or botswiriri, according to dialect.11 bobe mears'too much' or 'very'.

VERBAL DERIVATIVE FOR1\{S: APPLIED FORM (2):

Now this 'Applied form' is only one of several derivative forms which t;-,'ls*,ana verb can assume. If l,r,e take dira as a typical simple verb, we have thc"do]' t::examples of the clerivative forms; the causative form, dirisa, make toeachotir.:makedirana,Reflexive form, itira, make oneself ; the Reciprocal form,undot::becomethe Reversive forms, dirolola, unmake, undo, and dirologa,the Stative forms, diriga, be makeable, and dirala or diragala, become dor"happen. These forms will be dealt u,ith in separate Lessons. There are al.lurther derived forms.

'fhe meaning of the Applied form has already been indicated; it is t:,a:performance of the action to or for some person or thing, or in orsituations.tocertainsome place: it is literally, the verb 'applied'we also saw, however (Lesson 16, Notes 1, 11, 15), that the -ila ending'form; for exan: Ia verb does not necessarily indicate that that verb is an Appliedare all simp .etc.'tlhasila,dpila, phakila, bolil'a, timila, 6^ah, rapila, tlhaila,

form verbs.

turther mentioned (Lesson 17 I D) that verbs ending in -sa, eii

clo not conform to the general rule of the -ila ending for the Applied form, -'i=:sousedwehavetypeofthistake endings of the type -efsa. The only verbr;"sireletsa13,Note24,Lessonhas been the irregula. one leretse. (And in

It

u,,as

mentioned.)

In this Lesson we complete the study of these other endings of Applied for.

When the verb ends

in -nya, *sa,

and

in a fet{

'.tsa- thefinal-4ofthesimpleverbischangedinto-e/sa,thus:

senya

senyetsa.baakarrya, baakanYetsa.

-tszl)d, -ntsha

tlhatswa,

tlhatswetsa.

ntsha

ntshetsa.

disa, disetsa.fodisa, .fodisetsa'gotsa, gotsetsa..fatsa, fatsetsa.

the tlvoWhen the verb ends it -tsa (except for a few cases' such asthus:tochanges-letsa,tioned in B above), the -/sa ending

bitsa,botsa,

biletsa.boletsa.

reetsa,

reeletsa.kgweetsa, kgzaeeletsa,

cas.-

LessorrD

169

.Js

Notes on these APPlied forms.

There are also double or even triple Applied forms - e'8'' gihla andgitilita, from ga, draw water; and simple forms ending h -ila look (in the Applied) like the double Applied, e.g., bolillla, rapilila, etc.(2) In some cases an Applied form acquires a special or technical meaning;,.g., ni\h, hand to, or give to temporarily, is used in a technical sense of the givingoicalue, and kids to their mothers at milking-time; and titnes of day are calledmaniild-a-dipod.i,etc. Tsiilu, as u,e have seen, generally has the meaning of 'takingfrom' someone. Similarly tbpila, fotogila and atlholila have special meanings.(3) supa, to show, generally makes in the Applied form supegetsa althoughsupetsa is also found ; ke tlaa e mo supegetsa, I shall show him it'

(1)

Right and Left are expressed thus:

expressed in three ways; the first, curiously parallel

European usage! uses siama in Perfect with Relative Construction :

Right can be

siameng,lonao lo lo siameng,

seatla se se

the

the right hand,

the right foot'

The second way is by using the adjectives great or big

Letsdgd

to

tona, gol'o:

the right arm, or side of anYthing.

le letona,

The third isseatla se

se

the hand (by) r'r'hich (one) eats.

.iang,

Left is expressed by the word molima, used with the possessive concord;seatla sa molima,

tsittlhe tse?" (Mathaio

nxpncrsn

70

13: 54-56)

Translate into Setslvana:

Look, this bucket (imird) of mine has a hole in it at the bottom ._:,:.nyiga... tlase); can you mend it for me? Z When I got to him I founrleft leg was broken. 3 He has bought me eighteen beautifur large b.= -.4 The doctor has put me outside, and refused to heal my child fbr me.If you (-sing.) want to ring rhe bell, pull this rope r.vith your right hand. 6 ,me open the dool for you, mother; I.rvill also call my little brother fnr vou.Mary, wash those dishes (dilwana) for me, I am tireci this evening. ,! _' ,

sand was very heavy, so the l,r'agon $.as too much for the small oxen. 9 Rr:,I won't do it again, sir; please fbrgive me. l0 At d.sk just a feiv pe .,,had gathered at the little i.vell in the valley. 11 "Now- in that place thert . ,r,

grass. 12 Jesus said to thern, Horv manv loaves (senkgu;i1 :? go and see. 1:l When thev kneg.(had knorvr), the1, said, They are =-.and tvro fishe-"." (Mareko 6: :g)l+ After the calves hacl grazed for..:r,little time, thev heard their mothers lo'"ving. '15 The men clicl not hear :,.master calling them to lvork, for thev r,vere sound asleep .16 on Frida. :14th of March he fell into the river; also in that place the water wa-q dee: :17 The man rn'as afraid that the thief u...ld kill him, so he gave him the .of the room in which the money-box 14'as. 18 'lo part is painrur, my fri.-*much green-vou

but we shall meet again after a fe\4, years have passed. 19 Run (sing.) t, .post with these letters, and hand them to the rvhite man. 20 The NIas.-''

who u'ere in the little village n'ere herding oxen for other people. 2:vou blow that little fire, prohabl.r it will go out; better (bogoto) leave ir alo::Notes

botsa, to

mpoletse

is z-, the objectival pronoun, before the Applied

ask; hence,

ask for me.

for-_

2 tletse is perfect of tlila, Applied form of tLa, come; i.e., has come fortletsehowever might also be the Perfect of tlala, to be fi.ill; it is used in this n:';:ing in sentence 72 of Exercise 69.

illrflimilll!

Lesson 353

mogohgo, head-teacher, arrd mogokane,

(See sentence 15 below.)

gautshzaane is diminutive

of gaufi; it

171

teacher, are Kgatla terms.

means nearer than

gaufi.

See

Appendix, Article 23 on this.

567e9

sala . . . rnoragd is to follorv (behind or after) someone.

kgaogana is an intransitive verb meaning to become parted or divided.See Note 2 above.beledizpa, Passive of beletsa, which

is Applied fbrm of betsa, beat.

one meaning means to praise, or give praise to; it is the sameas bdka, from which comes the noun lebdkd, a praise-poem of a chief. Its othermeaning is to give up a bad habit, or give up something one has been punishedfor; to never-do-something-again: ke tlaa baka means'I won't do it again'

)luL

his

ads.

baka

in

and u baki ! means 'never do that again!'

10 rapilila, i.e., pray for or on behali of.I 1 butswila has nothing to do with butswq,ripen or become cooked:it means to blcw up a fire, with one's breath, to make it burn.12 wilais to fall onto or into something; wa is to fall from something.Thus selipi se oli mo koloing, the axe has fallen from the wagon; selipi se wetsemo motlhabeng, the axe has fallen onto the sand. . . . a wilafa.fatshe . .. (Ditiri9: 4) he fell to (or on) the ground,

.lhis1brrnofther,erbisnear1yasimpr:rtarrtastheApplied1brm.\.the name indicates, its meaning is conveyed if one prefixes the *-orc,'make to' or 'cause to' before the Simple form. For example, the verb /silg':

laugh, which is a root or Simple form, becomes in the Causative tshegisa, to makror cause someone to leugh'But there is sometimes a slight twist of this primary causative meaning: e.s'rekisa is to make to buy, and hence means to sell; lrom tla, come, we have t'causative form tlisa, literally make to ccrme, i.e., to bring; and from the ve:.to go, i'e', to send'-!a, Eo, u'e have already had the Causative isa, makeis this change of ti''Causative\oou the tvpical or standard encling for theforms of Causati. 'otheroriginal ending -a into -esa; but there are severalverb'theofending, acc,ording to the ending of the Simple form

(Two-syllable verbs.) If the -esa ending \\e:Verb ends in -Ja.

substituted for the hnal -a in a verb llke bala, such verbs would devei- 'endings of the type -lisa (batisa) ; lvhereas we hal'e already seen that this combisimil''otherasinSo,ation of I aod, i is a thing that Tswana does not tolerate.cases, the / is changed to a d, and rve have:

bala, rearl, makes in the Causative bailisa, make to read'

makes bedisa, make to boil'bela, come to boil,bodisa, make rotten'bdta, become rotten, makesNote that the vowels, I and d, coming before the high front v<lwel ri, char::(as elsewhere noticed), to e and o respectivelv.

Verb ends in -d/a. verbs of more than trvo syllables ending in -e-rform the Causative in either of two ways:

(One or tr.r'o dissyllabic verbs also

Verb ends in -ola. Verbs

this Causative ending,

use

latsa

make go to sleep.cause to forget.make to be quiet, silence.

ard

lala (Iie)

tlatsa.)

of more than two

syllables form the Caus-

gopola, think,nakes gopotsa or gopodisa, cause to think.bolola., set out on journey, makes 6olo/sa, or sometimes bolodisa.lekola, pay a sick visit,rnakes lekadisu, r'epolt on a sick person.Verbs of more than two syllables form the Caus-

that do not seem to conform to

head, makcs rzoesa.

body, makes apesa.

makesmakesbolaya, kill,makesboa, boya, bowa, turn back, makestake,

tsama)ia, go away,

tseisa.

tsamaistt.bolaisa.bosa, busa.

(losa, from lzta, has a different meaning.)

Remember that there are many verbs which do not in their nature take theCausative ending; and there are other verbs, e.g., baakanya, rvhich look likeCausatives, but which are actually in the Simple form. There are exceptionsto most of the types and classes listed above, and the student should verify fromDictionary in any case of doubt.It should also be noted that the Causative derivative form can still take, inaddition, other derivative endings, such as the Applied; for example, rekisa,sell, the Causative of rika, buy, can take the Applied ending and become re&jl

i{

s*t

Lessan 36

l7+

,Sgtsa, meaning to sell to someone; bosa, make io go back, or send back, becon,.:emilarly boSetSa, send back to some person or place. (Dialectically, busa, busets;

Translate into Setswana:

I When he showed me the letter, I said to him at once, That is not my

writing (mokwalo) .2 It surprises me (go-and Cats. gakgamala) to hearhim make the children sing like that. 3 cannot the magistrate put (make)this thing right, for it is causing the people to grumble ? 4 Yesterday thekittens made us all iaugh as.they played with the puppies. 5 ',He will makethe goats and the kids stand on his left hand, the sheep and the lambs on hisright." 6 It is God who makes the rain fall: when it has fallen it causes theseed to sprout in the ground. I I7 Thekishb, climb the rock and ring(Caus. lela) the bell, to call the people to church. 8 Are you not ashamed,you a soldier, to be in prison like this !9 we cannot lbrgive him, for he hasbroken (tlola) the law wilfully, and also caused his son to break the law. 10Mogamedi, put that bucket near (caus. atamila) so that I can put this rubbishinto it.11 You (sing.) will rest when y.u har.e tied up these nine bundles.12 I like 'setswana, also I can speak Afrikaans a little, but English is too muchfor me. 13 war divides many peopie from their homes, it makes them reave(caus. tlogila) their wives and their children. 14 which are the girls whowent to the concert on Thursdayl 15 I will measure the table, so that I can(may) make you another one like it.16 It will cause much joy (caus. itumita)to your parents if you can finish your studies this year. 17 Put the children to bed in the hut behind the shop. 18 won't we send him back to hislbther at Maun I19 The messenger took the little (piece of) paper from thegirl, and handed it to the magistrate.Notes

t2

Literally, it made thirst kill

me.

tlhong is a hedgehog (also setlhong); in the plural, however, the word

also means shame, and to be ashamed is go utlwa ditlhong or go tlhajwa ke ditlhong,to be pierced by hedgehogs! To make ashamed is go tlhabisa ditthong.3 tirild is used in a semi-technical sense for a 'service' of public worship.a tshegdfatsd is blessing or benediction. The root is seg6-u segd, you arelucky or happy: nout lesegd (sometimes letshegd) plural masegd. (See Math. S:.)To become happy or lucky is segdfala, and the causative of this'is segdfatsa, riakehuppy, lucky, blessed, whence the noun xhegdfatsdlit., a making to becomehappy or blessed.

phutholola is the Reversive, to un-gather, to spread out.)6 e le is untranslatable,unless occasionally by the participle ,being'.7 segagabd (se-ga-gabd) means, of his own place or home; it is the se_prefix with ga-gabi, his place. Kwa ga gabd means more or less the same as Aaa

(Frcmphutha, gather

176

Lesson

.1 6

gagui, but has a broader reference: ba-ga'gabb, his own folk, ba-ga'bdnd, their own folk" (See, e.g., Yohane 1:11 and 4: 44.)8 g*e ga naga, middle of the veld, could well be translated 'in the midcil.of no-where'. (See Dictionary.)s ka bomo mear,s of set purpose, deliberately, rvilfully, generally rvit:reference to some baC action.l0 bosilo (lesilo is such a person/ is not merely stupidity in the sense r:lack of sense; it is rather a wilful stupiditv, awhrvardness, obstructionism i a.the French would say, 'intransigeance'.1 tThe subjectivai concord or pronoun fot Modintc is o, never a .with the Class 1 nouns ; the Relative concords afe o o. There are two plural.of the word, medino meaning goCs, and badimo meaning spirits -- generali"evil ones.legaeng la

Additional NoteThe student should read and familiarise himself with the 'Indefinite' adje-tives, although they are only in occasional \sei mang-mzng, and -libi or libilii,and-.nnanne, all taking prefires of the Ciess in question, are the commcnest, K::..bolibillti, to such-and-such a place; kgomr.t ya tifulibi, such-and-such an o."Another not uncommon one is netla or netlane thingumybob, 'r.vhat-d'you-call-:tetc. There is auseful, if rather jumbled, section (no' 73, page 84f.) inWoor=r& BnowN upotr these 'Indefinite adjectives'.

VERB nna, ntse, AS INDEPENDENT:

esr, ALONE

was mentioned in Lesson 15 I A that the Perfect of the verb nna (to be)was ntse, and it was also noted that the other meaning, perhaps the originalmeaning, was sit or sit down. Thus nnafafatshe!means' sit dorvn! -literally,sit on the ground. Like ima, stand, nna is an Initiative verb ; bangwe ba eme,some are standing, others are sitting.ba bangzae ba ntse

how is it ?it is so, that is so,is it not so ?may it be so ! let it be so !but although it is so; nevertheless.is it really youl (Lit., it is thus it is youi)

jalo;

e ntse

just

a Pluperfect, translated as a Past-indefinite.)

There is a common impersonal usage' employing gro or e

go

'

ke

The phrase e ntse jaana is sometimes shortened

II199. (For full phrase, see Pad. II l20,line 7.)

lo

ntseana

see Padisd

il e

The idea of alone-ness is expressed in setsw-ana by the syllable or formative *sz, which is employed (just like -2i of Lesson 26) with the appropriate Class-prefix. In the personal noun Class (1) it appears thus:

Translate into Setswana:

shalt make it known to them that I cannot sell (to) them fresh 'd2 In big tou'ns like Kimberley there are a very feu" rich people, and a great :mre:=:;;,poor people. 3 NIix the sugar and the fresh milk, and put it on in the rrtuG:pot. 4 Measure the milk with a cup; but the sugar has to be measure; -ffia small spoon. 5 Boys like sour milk mixed with their porridge. 6 Hm=-

1 I

::.:;1,

Lesson 37

179

plain to all the girls how this ner,v game is played. 7 The speaker spokerapidly, and also he spoke in Setsrvana; 8 but all the same I understoodhim a little. 9 The small boy says his stomach is very sore, his mother hassent him here to us in order to get medicine. 10 These corrugated-ironsheets are the right length for my house, but I must buy five more. 13 11Go and put away that ball just now, and pay attention to what teacher is tellingyou. 12 As the old rvoman rvas sorving her mealie-seed, the birds followedher and ate it all up.13 Progress is a very good thing, nevertheless we likesome of the old Setswana customs. l+ The sea was on our left hand, andthe hills on the right. i5 "They said to her, Woman, why are you crying IShe said to them, It is because they have taken arvay my Lord, and I do not knowwhere they have put him." (John 28: fi)u76 Isn't the well very deepIsn't the rope short ? 17 Perhaps it will fail to lower the bucket to the water.18 The child's mother has sent a telegram to her husband to inform him of?

l5 19 When the string of her beads broke the beads all fell onthe ground; t620 so she called a little girl and told her to pick them uphis illness.

and put them in a little box.

17

Notes

huma

Nouns from

is to

become rich, acquire possessions; ke humile,

it

am rich.

are khurnd (or lohumd), riches, and rnohumi a rich person. Povertyis expressed in Tswana as the reverse of riches; go humaniga is to become poor,lehuma is poverty, mohumanegi is a poor man,2 rua is to come into possessions by inheritance; noun lorud (dithud)we had in Lesson 12 II C, meaning possessions. (And see Mareko 10: 22)

polase or polasi, a farm, and slnki, a sheet of corrugated iron (from

'zinc'), are importations; also tdrdpd (Aftikaans 'dorp'), a large European villageor small towneven a large town.4 tshela- means to cross such a thing as a river (as rvell as to live),5 hwa thohd is a phrase meaning aside, to one side, out of the way, etc.Distinguish it carefully, votvels and consonants, from tlhdkd.

The Auxiliary 6a is sometimes used in the Imperative, as here, to add

force to a prohibition.

78

ntli,

literally, go out to the outside.

tswilila-?ele (double Applied form of tszrra) means to advance, go onbefore; hence to make progress. It is much used in this latter figurative sense,and its noun botszoilild-pele means progress or advance.e tlhakana (Pf. tlhakanye) is to become mingled or mixed; an intransitive verb. The Causative, to mix things, is tlhakanya (tlhakantsi) .t0 mala means the viscera in general, but mostly the alimentary organs;stomach and bowels, particularly the lower bor,vel. Its tones are mid,lorv; thetones of another word with identical spelling, mala meaning cold (: serami)tsutila kwa

are low-high. If a patient says, mala a me aa sega,he means he has indigestion,

pains in the stomach: if he says, mala a me a omeletse, he means his bowels areconstipated: and ke tshabisiwa ke mala means, I have diarrhoea-1it., my bonels

articles; see Dictionary for the many 'rsr,r,ana rvavs

r-.._o Ito become partecl f}om each other, become sundered.17 nguail)/ana means a little child,of either sex; but the rvord isused as equi'alent to nnsetsuna, and e'enan adorescent giri can be ref.errecr

moseja ga rewatle jrva fitrhdra fa go ." ,.o

ntse); AUXILIARY kile ;

ORDINALS

nltse

sire.

ofaish

The Perfect of the verb nna (ntse) , preceded by a sa, is used as Auxiliaryto denote action which has been going on continuously up to a certain indicated point in time. Its reference ends with that time, hence the designation'Pre-continuous'

i.e., continuous before a certain

translatable

. . .'

by'still

tirne. It is generally

ortoNS

also

Ito

as

A"..,

Present: type, ke sa nfse

ke rdka, I am still

buying.

tird e, e sr. ntse e itsizoe thata ke

basad:i" (Padisd III 130) ;", , , mmitseng, a sa ntse a le gaufi"

this work is still known well by the

(Isaia 55: 6b)

near.

women.

call (upon) him while he is (now still)

Lleb*

ttse.Leng

Itsesda-

Ldf

Rel-aSSiJ

Past-indefinite: type, ke ne ke sa nfse ke r6ka.

"Mme Yesu .., o na a sa ntse a le mo but Jesus ... was still in the placewhere Martha met him.felong fa Maratha o kgatlhanyeng naigbni (Yohane 11: 30);"o na a sa ntse a tshela jaaha he hwala he was still living as I was writingjaana" (Rammdni, p. 6);(am writing) thus.Notice how the Auxiliary-sa ntse-'is incorporated into the simpler verbalconstruction, and the shade of meaning it contributes.onaalemofelong...he was (then) in the place . . .o na a Sa ntse a le mo felong . . .he was stilt (then) in the place . . .

Narrative: type, (e rile) ke sa nfse ke rdka.

E rile Mzilikazi a sa ntse a le kzoa when Mzilikazi rvas still at Marico,)Iadiko, a itilztsa ke Maburu" (Padisd (some) Boers came to visit him.Past-definite,

rrrlle);

"Ya re a sa ntse a robetse . . ." (Padisr., when (rvhile) he

II

;lo

The main verb is generally in the Present, except when

Ilke rdbala.

)ntsikdrd

Jesu

aba

rvas

still

asleep . .

t t1;

it is an Initiative verb

There is a Future-type, ke tlaa bo ke sa nfse ke rdka, I shall still

be buying-but it employs the bo Auxiliary which rve have not yet studied.The sa ntse Luxiliary is never used with the simple Future-you cannot say ketlaa sa ntse ke rika. Even the form here given would more .naturally use the-\uxiliary zlse insteacl of sa ntse. For that see next Lesson.

1,82E

Lesscttt 38But the ntse of this Auxiliary is often omitterl, the sa alone remai;and u,e have usages like the follorving:

The Auxiliary kile.

This has the force of 'once' or 'at one time' and is used frequently in narr":prose or speech. In contrast w-ith the Continuous moods or tenses, it refe:.one particular time or action in the pastoften in the distant past.

duma" (Padisd IIl110);

listen; a sower once went our, '*

went to sor,r'.Lion and Ostrich once upon a !l*::joined together to gror,r4.have you ever seen spidersidid you once see . . .)

Note that the kile is follou.ed by the main verb in the past tense, s'it: pronouns of the a, lua, tsa form, the Narrative form. The hile can also tak.-rug ending of the Relative Construction; see for example, padisd III, 6. ,tpar., "tshenyigit e kgdlo e di kileng tsa e bdna ka tird eo", the great destm_,,.rvhich they once expericnced through that u,orli.r

,,

UI

Numeral Adjectives

'fhe- ordinals.

ordinal numbers are exar-:-r::

it qua'of the ,;.:,of the rveek: ntllm is the only one rvhich is different from the cardinal nLr: :,.,already studied in Lesson 2,1.below:

'franslate into Setswana:

1 To-day I rvent to have-a-look-at the prisoners, but I found they had

not then returned from the kgotla. 2 Father, the rope brcke yesterday,after u'e had rvatered the oxen. 3 Which soldier is it u'ho is still absent4 The people who once lived in these caves knerv (how) to catch fish. 5Why do you scold your pupils (morutwa) ? They are still learning 6 Really,that sixth horse is i.'ery fast. 7 \Vhen I sar'r' him, he was still kneeling dou'nto untie the sack. 8 Your uncle is grorving old, but he is still able to drivehis wagon. 9 That tribe (seshaba) had once great power (non,ofd), but nowthe other tribes have advanced in an astonishing manner. 10 If you (plu.)?

refuse to help-each-other, you will be attacked by every enemy s'ho is

near.

11

Lesson J8

184

\Ve cannot go foru,arcl alone, r",,ithout

the help of other people.chief is still in great diltrculties rvitha tribe like that, wliich ...,t]:w-o\,vnItscustoms and lar,r,s (ya segasitni);ts13 but ali the sa:::

"l;;"

given up-hope' itthabagd.

:::'",*":lj:' "::y":ii;.side by side tike that,'they Jre'nor;; ;;,:;iil1,^11::",,nt"gsThe last shall be first, and ,r,," n.r,;;; ""'i;',k'.:::"TT:rt:J:inrrnnfimo.l-,,+ I l^r r.,i-"r,', betievedon'thim.17Wh.;';;;';;;;i,;'ll","l river, they.butJeighth"i;"';: found it to

be (e te) a ver1,'6;r';;;;,;'"that they could not cross (it) by their iittl.'.;;";,'"'19But rr-i:-.considering (ya re .. . sa) horv theycould do, 20 the chief of :--.t,ho was r.ery rich, said he u,ould (will) helpthem.Notes

16 go lekana is to be all equal, used of a number of things; dia lekana

means, they are all the same size, or equal. (Llso lekalekana.) Used in thePerfect, however-di lekanye-it means, they are sufficient or enough, in numberor quantity. Like patagana it is a Reciprocal form.17

Wa1,a tanl' ( padisd

he perceived the trail of blood as it

went (goes) steadily on . . .they left Monyane (who was) goingon

.trying to lift her's.they lived together for a while, thelion continuing to do the killing.I went up to. it, and opened (spreadout) it, and read. While (ur) f wenton readirg, I heard a voice . . .as the child proceeded to do so (or,

Translate into Setsu,ana:

haven't yet had time to reacl your book, I'm still having an arvful jobdresses. 2 Has your knee not heared (fdra) yet i No, it is stillsore, but it is a iittle better (bottka, diminutive). 3 I don'tknorv n4-rat theyhave eatenbut all five .xen died yesterday. 4 Last year we increased his- on account of*'ages(madi)living far from his rvork. 5 Don,t mix the spoons*'ith the forks, put them on one side. 6 proverbs don't change,they endure(ntse di le teng) for all timc(s).7 It seems to me he doesn,t like to live at themines, but perhaps he is seeing a big torvn for trre firsttime. g rhose-u,rr.make-praise-songs are not many now; thev rvere oncevery numerous. 9 Aleopard-skin is very beautiful; arso it can command (tdpa)a good price (muchmoney). 10 It's nothing.(ga se sepi) if ploughing is i,,o diii.ult for you;g'on trying, by and by you r,vill plough properly1i*" prtr;. 11 I have alreadytold you that if you $,ant rvork you12 She-rr.i go in person to ask for it.*ent on k'ocking at the door for a rong timc, tut apparently therenas'o oneinside; 13 so presently she gave it ip (tthdbngei-otte, ,..ting fora nliilc,she returned home. r+ Is it so, father, thai my fia'cd's-peoii.hur,. .u,-,-r"to consult about the u'eddi.g (speaker is rvoman) ?15 v.., thot'. so, but rveita'e not yet agrecd about everything. 16 pleasc go tothe post ancl sencl ar'ire to your elder brother at Kanye, 17 to teli himthat his friend is no more,and to cali him home. 18 \\,'hen all the six of them(men) pulled, the ropebroke, and they all fell on the grouncl. 19 Whenrvill 1,or, .o_. again to tellmc horv your r'vife is getting on? (rekora, causative.) 20I r-rave already cometrlice, and found you out(se yd),but I'll keep on comingevery day.serving these

Lesson 39

190

Notes

tlhalefa means to become clever, rather than to become wise. Botlhale

is used to translate'u.isdom', but is not a fully equivalent term; in botlhale thereis a large amount of cunningness, the skill of the hunter and the cattle-man, ratherthan 'u'isdom' in the Hebreu' or Greek or religious sense of the word. Go tlhatefamotho mongr.u is to betvare of a certain person, or rather, to be on one,s guardagainst him. so motlltalefi is a person who knou,s alot, a person rvho has acquiredall the veld-craft and skills which a Nllotsrvana needs.2 kgwanya-kgznanya is a typical double onomatopoeic rvord. Otherforms of it are konya-honya and khwanya-khwanya.

tshegetsa

is to hold up, or support,

actually, or figuratively.

anything

cither literally

and

mmeeletse, from biilila, to betroth

a r,vord used of a man's action orthat of his parents. A woman or her parents- does not bdllila a man; she is be-

trothedtoorengaged to (i.e. by) the man; o beeletszue ke mang-mang, she is engaged

to (by) so-and-so (a man).5 maoto aoo-mabedi generally becomes maoto oo-mabedi-the a disappears.just as it tends to do in the case of aotlhe and adni.6 mekoti is used for the 'mines' of the Rand, etc.; the word 'mine' is alsoused in a Tsrvana-ised form (hwa dimaeneng) and sometimes the words mesimoand merafd are used.

7 nnila ruri,

Applied form

of nna, remain (or be),

means

to

remain

permanently, or to be for alnays; see Lesson 27, Note 12.

8 ekete, diaiecticallv ekote, or erete, or ereke,has the force of it seems t,.me that', or 'apparently'.e le tsdni-- and them (emphatic) - i.e., even the l,ery hills. Anotheru'ay of putting it u'ould have been le e leng dithabaka tsosi, even the hills themselves.to ka sebele means in person. Note that'I have come to see you myself'(sebele) is not the same as 'I have cone to see you by myself'(hanosi) .r1tlhaka is a single unit or grain of seedpeo is a quantity of any onr.sort of seed. Perhaps the word originally means -a single small thing of a largenumber of similar things. It is also used as meaning a letter of the alphabet.12 pasa, a transliteration of the u'ord 'pass', used as a technical term fo:getting through examinations or other testsPerf. pasitse.- some are valuable rvhere no cor(There seems no end to such importations;responding Tsrvana u.ord exists ; e.g., there seems no good equivalent for the rvorc'guess', rvhich is often Tsrvana-ised: but manv are quitc unnecessary, even grotesque, and their use tends to oust good authentic Tsrvana words. At a certairgirls' boarding school the girl orderlies for the day rvere hearcl to say re la go disltupa, \\e are going to "dish-up" the foodl)13 bika, similar to baka, praise, is the recitation of the official praises orpraise-songs (lebdkd, mabdki) extolling the erploits ol a chief; these are composecand recited by the mmoki (plu. baboki). llis function was similar to that of thtancient bards or minstrels of liurope, who made their orvn lays for the most part.and sang them, often to a harp, at courts; but the Tswana mmoki never wanderejfrom tribe to tribe in his pr:ofessional capacity. He used to be rewarded by an or

Lesson 3g

191

one of the very oldest parts of the o1d Testament, the song of l)eborahin Judges 5:, has very strong resemblances to a Setslvana Lebdko'14 ntlha rs an end of any thing or article; and 'on all sides' (round about)

or

t\\.o,

2: 9): it is also used for'side'meaning the part or

xllodimo, God is alrva,vscause of .u-.o.", as in the proverb ntlha ya hgosi e iua ke

is mo ntlheng tsotlhe (Ltrke

on the chief's side, or God alrvays takes the part of the chief't5 roo brtraro neans (a1l) rve three, or, all three of us; similarly' looboraro, all three of you, a1l you three'16 'Ihe \r,ord ,i*o i" used, as here, for making anything rvhich invoivesthcthe cutting dou-n of trces or bushes; so you rima a tshimo tvhen 1'ou clearandvouground of bush ancl trees for making a nerv ploughing-iand or garden'a kraal. Butmaketoacircieinthemfirandbushescutyouwhet,i*o u lesakaat the rear;the r,r,ord also means to brake a wagon by turning the brake-handleof the rvordhorv this meaning comcs is not clear, but upon this double meaningSetsr'vana simplelrangs one of thg amusing errors of 'Mokoteili', the proverbialtonlsee padisd II, p. 7. (But one informant says that Nlokotedi $'as not aofsimpleton; he u'as an actual person' a Mongwaketse rvho lived in the timepurposehischief Gaseitsir.ve, rvho lr,anted to make people mean what they said;,straighten the language'. (A thircl meaning of the verb rimais the 'turnwas toing'of fresh milk rvhen it 'goes olT'or turns sour')

LESSON 4OALIXILIARY VERBS, f/ftdla (NEGA'|IYE), drka AND tsogahave already (Lesson 29) had tlhdla as a simple verb meaning t,' vestigate or go to see something, and, in the Perfect tense (tlhotse), a: -'Auxiliary conveying the sense of passing the day-time in some way or occupariA third usage of the verb, also in an Auxiliary capacity, conveys thc idt-.drar,ving-out or lengthening some action. In this use the verb means to 'carn'to continue-doing; and hence in the negative, in rvhich its use is frequen:.means 'no longer' or, 'not any more'. Examples show its manner of use. T: ,verb in this usage is never in the Perfect, but otherrvisc can feature most t':--'moods and tenses,

\V.

"Letsatsi ja ba ja hhutla go tlhdla

phatsima" (Padisd III 16) ;

le

shining.

go tlhdla ba mmotsadipotsd" (Mathaio 22: 45);". . . ba tshaba

(lit.,) the sun also ceased to go t

they feared

to any-more ask :

-r

questions (or, to continue to . . .).

But the verb, even in this grammatical form, is generally used 1:, .ncgativc context:

Translate into Sets\vana:

1 These things prevent me from any longer believing his rvords. ' 2 Iayou see a little path going off (turning aside) to the right hand, follorv (tata) it.3 Haven't you (isn't it so . . .) another year to pass at school before you 6nisLyour studies ?4 His rvife gave birth to (bdna) a baby girl this morning. -iI think some of her friends rvho are near will come in the morning to see ths

baby. 126 Are there still sick folk u'hom I ought to visit ? 7 Yes.tl'rere are still many, for the disease has gripped both the two villages. 8 Ou:mother is now old, she no longer sees; but she can perceive people by their voices.9 It is no good to go on knocking at the door; it is night, everybody's asleep.

19s

Lesson 40you (sing') untie that long parcei :hit.-::lll9,t^-..,-tt#lL'ot"'**t;;:j auv, but the-re are not vet'"anv :lo"d:'"

this wold-aPllears to mean

Ioapiis sometimes used for the sky' but

ratherwhatmightbecalledtheair-itistheplacervherethebirdsfly.Ctrriouslyit seems also to mean thick or black darkness' and takes as direct object the7 fapoga is to turn aside from something'tsetiis to turn out of the way' Thething from rvhich one turns aside; go fapogasomething' and does not take aApplied fotm fapogila means to turn towardstolocative; fapogila l*o go.inb' t:un asidedirect object, but is used with the

;t;.

8s

is hapoga' not fapoga)

(Some hold that the correct word

yo go

,r,

th"

it ^it""i"f

with

.metlia; English rvould rather say' 'times

the nounone's morning fast, to take breakfast;Ttlhota is to break

sefitlhold, breakfast.

iT"'";;;;;

battwa is a curious idiomatic Y.'us":.

n*.- *"". t"

fetched, or people

;J;:::1:'tul"l

tilffi

'

*:itl*,.:1tl^:::",T:?,:

look for them; literally'

; :;; ;";

imilar

ilu]"ufili:;,', ,',;;;;;- i i"ai,

kwa

,"y J-:}"i:t;?,!;:;

::l': li ,n"Ii:';::'l l::'"^",t-",l:::..iteng gdzd", so

*::i":e

rs

"-

I'u.t:i:.^

about) where it had gone'

."frif" la 1,n" pot) was being asked (or enquiredlt tlhwa and' its nelative tlhvse are variants of tlhdta and tlhole'(thorn) bush used to12key * .".i"*tl mhikd (mohikd) is a large

used for tire entrance of the goats' or sheep's kraal. But it is used equallv c,the branch of bush or thorn-tree (often mosu) placed against the outside of th:hut-door, or in the door-way of the lolu:apa, to indicate that the person inside i.sick and not to be disturbed, or is lying-in for the period of botietsiat and aftc:child-birth. A visitor or stranger who finds such a ,ig., ,r",r., disturbs or inte:feres n'ith it, unless perhaps he is a member of the family.

whut is generally called the Habitual Mood (or Mod6) is a common anclcharacteristic formation of the setswana verb. There is nothing quitecorresponding to it in English, except for a certain idiomatic use of the presentIndicative; so it often has to be rendered by a phrase. Its general import isnot difficult 'to grasp; it expresses action u'hich happens usually, or generally,or repeatedly; or what a person is in the habit of doing. I

Present: type, re(a) tle re reke, we buy (i.e., habitually)

motho a rata go isa ma;t'oko if a person wishes to sencl some newsmangwe . . . kwa ditsaleng tsa gagzni, to his friends, he (usually) sendsoa tle a ba kzt:alele lokwald" (Padisd them a letter.rr l8a) ;"Ba tlaa gu bolilila go re baloi ba tle ba they will tell you that witches are intsamaye bosigo" (Padisd 1169);the habit of going about at night."Go tlo go bolelelwe-pele jalo mo diko- it is usually thus foretold in the newsranten,g" (Padisd II 157) ;papers.The full form, which is only used in the first of a series of Habituals, and not

". . ' fo

always then, is as follows:

ke(a) tle ke reke,

u(a) tlo u reke,

I buy,

o(a) tle

he (she) . .

areke,rehe)

(or, o tla a

you . . .

re(a) tle re reke, r,ve buy,

Notice two things; that the tle or tlo is generally assimilated to the vowel ofthe pronoun or concord: and that the verb itself is in the same form as the negativeof the Present Indicativc.Now the modern English Present Indicative, without the Auxiliary verb ,to

be' (i.e., I buy, etc.), has really got the import of habitual action, not of presentaction. If it is said, for example, 'he writes poetr|', it means that he frequently orhabitually writes poetry: the real Present tense is, 'he is writing poetry'. In thesame way the statement 'he drinks' (or 'he does not drink') means something quitedifferent from 'he is drinking' (or 'he is not.drinking'). Hence the English pi".ent,in its simple and short form, is often the best equivalent of the Tswana Habitualmood.

the Present Indicative.

ga ke ke ke rika (ga nke ke

rvhy, even the s,hite folk are not in

the habit of sueing their chief.\1-e never get tired of looking at them.

Notice that the Present Habitual negative is rdfta-unless it is in the indirect

formation rvhich uses the negative formatir,e se,sa. There is thus the rathercontradictory and confusing feature about the^otHabitual, that its affirmative isreke and its negative is rikathe very opposite of ',r'hat happens in the case oi

re ke re rdka, we do not buy.

re reke . . .)

kgosi

se ke

rika),

ga re ke re rika.ga lo ke lo rika.ga ba ke ba rika.

re ne re tle re reke, we used to buy.

(Negativere ne re se ke re rika. In this the ne generally persists throughout.instead of changing to no or na in the different persons.)Past-indefinite: type,

ba kdpana boo bararo, Kosi a se lee

She used to think that she would agree

to Ramosa; at other times she used

to think of Nzima . . . if they were allthree together, Kosi used not to knowwhat she v'ould do.

The above translation is literal rather than idiomatic, to bring out the forceof the Tsu,ana Habitual. English u,ould probably prefer to render the sense byusing the word 'would'-a free translation could run- "At one time she wouldthink that she could agree to R., at another she would think of N. . . . if they wereall three together Kosi rvould be quite at a loss to know what she ought to do."The Habitual mood can also appear in any Auxiliaries which u'ould normally be in the sentence, such as ba, nna, tlhdla, etc"'

"Fa go lowa, (u) botshabild, Sera se be

if there's fighting,

se tlhoboge" (Padisd 112.7);

attacking force despairs.

you are refuge, the

ba tle ba nne ba e Pagame ga' they often go on riding it many times.

the years pass,

II ft2) ;Note finally that one must be careful to distinguish the Tswana Habitualfrom the Future or Imperfect Subjunctive, especially if one is using a scriptwhich has no diacritics, when the context should easily decide which form it is.

o-brt le tsala ya gagwi. 20 Jalo ini a

bue le Moshe jaaka motho

motho wa lekau,EXERCISE

82

ini

se ke

oiti

a tlogele mogope'" (Ekesodo 33: 7'

11)

Translate into Setswana:

lPeoplewhoarenotinthehabitofattendingtotheirworkgenerallymaketo other- l3olle, 2 Themany mistales, and also cause loss (senya, Applied/and that they don't gopeopre,ofhunter told us that leopards are usualry afraidthey hunt at night'caves;andabout in day-time. 3 They live in rocks14 4 Somepools'l3thetoalso they come-down-to-drink (\oUgo, Applied)155 they alsofaults:theirp."pf" ure not in the habit of "ottfe"tsit'g (ipotila)mistakes:makeallweBut6iri* u*ry those who tell them the truth'so(kegdn})weoughttoconfessourfaults,andalsotoforgiveotherpeople.16

people do not-recogniseothers say they are still with us, although many

l0andapersonlike.thatneverconfessesthatheisawitch.IsllWhenwewereboysweusedtoridedonkeysatthecattle-post'andhaveraces'11in 1940' 13 Don't(rrsolo) ut Tha*ugu, as we spent-the year therework well' but she isher"rp".iullydototriescftjli, she generally1ri"g.; U" u.tlry *ith tttisbreakfasted? Thelyetnotleboys14 Hlve thetroubled by coughing'15 This morningriver'theinought to hlr.y ii they want to go to swim

last night' 16found that the hy-enas had eaten two of my sheepaccordimpersonal,_Passive)in(putIn some Batswana towns they still take wives

I g'ot a fright, i

ingtooldcustoms;lTbutbogadiisnolonger(used)muchinsometribes'ther:.1g The Batswana who live in European towns generaliy marry ,(tseisa)

difierently: 1,g the fathers-of.the-man,

fathers-of-the-woman. 20 so bogaditheto

sons

and the man himseif, give moner

is becoming destroyed to-day' fo;

the proPer bogadi is cattle onlY'

Notes

lTheHabitualhasmorereasonthansomeotherssodesignatedtobetermei

aMoodoraModeoftheverb;itcertainlySeemstoconformtothedefinition.some special manne'"A special form assumed by the verb in order to marklmoauqinwhichthatconnectionbetr'veenasubjectandapredicate'whicher-errquotecl by Doke in B' L' T'verb implies, is viewed by the speaker'" (Bradley'p. u7.)2 gongwe, with mo gongwe and fa gongwe' have the force,of 'sometimes ' "thi. Jur"." oth"'*i'el See examples' Mekgwa le Melac'other times', o,'inop of p. 87 (pp' 85-90)' Also Padisd 1116' foot'

Lessatt 41?

tIaa

20L

rilc ka and ereka mean'since'. See future Lcssons on the re Auxiliary (and Lesson 49 in particular).4 tshoga is to experience sudden fear or terrof, to get a fright, be agitatedby fear; tshisa is the Causative form of the verb and thus means to make fright..r.d o, panic-stricken. Distinguish it from the similar verbs boifa and tshaba,

the former of r,r-hich connotes the mental state of being afraid or fearful, the lattcrincluding both the feeling of fear and the running av,ray or 'evasive action' whichthe feeling normally results in.s ie mardrd (synonyms arc etsua and ntswa) means 'although . . .' and isused to connect a qualifying or negativing clause. sec Padisd IIIl35.6 titika is to chase a\,vay or drive arvay any thing or person; it is uscd inhunting-the ancient camouflagecl game-pit into r'vhich the panic-stricken animals

rn"r" drirr"r-r, rvas called atilikitd or gdpd. A person rvho is drir'-en outorbanisheda fate thich people fear very much. (See I'{ehemiafrom a tribe is titikwa

Itt:

a2

tb

rc6t-

t-

irt!r

dB,

lrry-

G,

28, a correct translation.)

7 bogadi (lcbota in the Nguni languages) means the cattle which arecollected by thc bridegroom's people, chiefly his father and maternal uncle, fortransfer to ihc bride's people, as the most important part of the many social contacts and feasts, visits and exchanges, rvhich make up the elaborate pattern of theold,time Bantu marriage. It was also the social seal of the new alliance betrveenthe tu-o f'amilies, and u,'ithout it the children of the marriage I'vere still regardedand his family'as belonging to the mother anci her family rather than to the father'brideit-'bride-price',No satisfalury English term has been propounded forterms'anthropologicalrvealth', and 'eqr,rilibrium-guarantee' are some of themeaningwholetheThe modern urban substitution of money for cattle destroysof the thing, and is rnaking marriage a purely financiai transaction betu'een tv'ofamilies; it almost literally now is the buying of a wife'8 bao-tamosimane or bao-rramosimante, the boy's father's relatives. Notethe difierence betrveen the bo-Molef., the Molefis, i.e., the people who are called13

Nlolefi it might be

tr,vo brothers at school,

like Smith major and smith minor

and boo-Motefi or boo-ra-Mol.ef, Molefi's clan and all his relatives-particularand brothers who meet together to discuss and decidefamily affairs.6 botrooni, they rvho take each otherfrom tsaana, the Reciprocalform of the verb tsaya. Although the t'ife never tsaya her husband, the term

-ly the men, the uncles

batsaani can be uscd of bridegroom and bride'

10 tilogope is not really a tent at all, it means a small poorly-built hut''Ihe thing is absent from Tsu,ana life; so'tente'of some such transliteration canbe usedlPactisd II161 . fuIogope is often used of huts at lands or cattle-post.t1bothibititd is herc used to translate 'camp', rvhich has no exact equiYalcnt in Tsy,ana llfe . Thibitita, the double Applied of thiba to stop, prevcnt, etc.,

has tr.vo meanings; its natural double Applied meaning, to stop-to-fol-something, and the spccial technical meaning of settling in a new place-used of a large,r.r-b"1- of people, or a tribe or clan, or an army. For instances of it see Padisdilll;,pactiidIVl|'tand. lg,andMekgwa le Melad, p. 115. From the first andespecially the last of these instances it appears that the basic meaning is 'to move

and suffixing the Applied form ending, to the verb. 'I'hus, borakanild js a r..,ing place, place u'here people meer; bo f rakana * ita: maboladld a tsii rr,..the places u'here locusts are or have been killed.

13 fologila is an Applied form (fotoga, descencl)

u.ith the technicar n:.,,

ing of coming dor,vn to drink, of cattle or r,vild animals.14 lekadiba or bodiba means a pool in or of a river-either part of a i_:ning stream, or a pool left 'nhen the stream has dried up and left isolated pmogobe on the other hand is a rain-rvater pond or 'pa''. A lecha is oneof a s-:.of pans in a flat valley, either connected in the flood season or actually partseasonal river. There are many different places in Bechuanaland rvhich .-

called 'L:cheng' or 'Macheng'.

15

ditlold (tlold) are tran$gressions or lau-breakings. Trora is (1) to

1u- :animal; (2) to jump over, or cross over, any obstacle or bounc.*hence, to cross a river, a railway-line, or road: go tkla molad is to cross.to transgress, a lau'. lvlolato on the other hand means a debt, anything o\\--_another; and hence anything u,hich puts one person in the wrong or makes _ras a person or

blame-worthy.

16 Notice the ba in the Infinitive,

follorved byby the main verb in

Present Indicative.

17

go dikile is here followed by the verb in the present; there is re:

no Perfect of the compound verb go na le . .

18 See Appendix, Article 24.

19 To be angry rvith a person can be translated in several ways; g, - r-

bogale connotes more the mental state

of anger (compare boifa of fear);

go gd1..,-

is to express one's anger in words, but also means to be very zealous or yer", !,upon something, very determined on some object or course, Go shakgala i.be in a rage' or to rage at someone: it expresses more violent anger than ga*--,.

re phuduhudu so,whenever thephuduhudustopped

(Note in this example how the three verbs a ima a botsa a re aretreated as onecomposite Indicative verb, as they rvere one composite action,and the Habitualgo arabe is the consequent or resulting action.)

these .re constructions can only be gathered slorviy.

'lhe exercises belorv contail a uunrber of authentic examples from existing literature, r,r.hich the stuclent is advised to study, committing typical cases to memory.Let him not be at all tvorried if, at this stage, he cannot always feel that he quiteunderstancls the usage, or if he fincls that he cannot himself use it surely and eft'ectively. The context rvill generally be the guide to the shade of meaning rvhich tire

Translate into Setslr,ana:

1 Have you (plu.) ever seen kgingai? No, rve havcn't seen it yet, bu.'2 Kging:,,shall be going to Gantsi next year, perhaps rve shall see it.found in the Kalahari, and ii saves travellers and hunters, rvhen the n'are:

dried up in the pans. t6

3 The kgingt) does not usually lzst (nria .,all the year; (rvhenevcr) in the month of September it generally rots.think there r,r,iil be a lot of lain this year, for it has already begun-to-rain.The chief has cailed the pkrughing-timc yesterd:r1,, but n.ry fathers have nr,:got their wagons ready. 17 6 Stop (lesa) srveeping this rooni just nori-.are annoying us rrith the dust and the noise.7 "So Jesus entered into Jerusalcm, into thc temple; but rvhen hr, ,looked round on (kdbakdba) everything, 8 because it s,as already iate ir. ::,afternoon, he came out and $.ent to Bethany lr.itl-i the trveil'e .9 In the . ,ning, rvhen they had come out of Bethany, he u-as hungry. 10 So u'h.:. :.,saw a fig-tree (mofeige) at a distance, rvith leaves on, he u.ent to it.11 : when he got to (arrived at) it, he did not find anything, except only leaves, : was not yct the time of figs.12 So he said to it, Let no person from he.._.forth (any longer) eat fruit from you for ever (at all).13 He came to Je:r,lem . . . he taught saying, Is it not r,r'ritten (Perf.), NIy house shali be call.: house of prayer of all nations ? but you have made it a den of thieves. 1+ : revery (whenever) evening he r.voulcl come out of the city." (Mareko 11 : 1i ,'15 When ive u-ash our hands, we pour \,vater into a basin, and u'e:.r,,:rvith soap. 16 Do not (sing.) turn aside from this little path, keep goir.:alongside (bapisa) the railway (seporo) .17 When the iittle boy fell inr -.mud, his clothes got all wet (koldba) also he started to cry. 18 \\'he:sister heard him, she came running to see r.vhlt uas making him cry (C:-..19 When r,vill you (sing.) learn to r.vrite niceiy? your rvriting is shameful {r-.'.,:ashamed). 20 When (ever) the bov's father's people (rvill) arrive, ther' ',,-r:find us awaiting (expecting) them.:,:

,,,

:,.,r,,

Notes

1 mamosi, earlv moming; a southern usage.

2 In other rvords, use your opportunities rvhile you have then. l:the chilly lvinter time Batswana like to sit and to u'ork in tl-re sun.) The pi ::-:i

is a close parallel to "\l[ahe hay r.vhile the sun shines."

itlhotlhora is Reflexivc form of tlhotlhora, to remove sma1l thir-rgs r-",r-,:r

are a pafi of, or cling to, some larger thing-such as dry leaves of a branr:. ,idust or particles from dress-by shaking.

Lesson 42adisaster.

2A9

lesinini is anv sudden catastrophe, or astonishing ancl unexpected

5 Note the ka here, not Ae,

6 Or as in the Rible, tlltobailita pete se lo tlaase bttang.7 he ka moo, or ke gdtti ka mao, an idiom meaning'on account of tr-ris orthat', or'that is ho*'it comes tl.rat .,.' scc "Ka mo plnkojie nrrs lesr,', padis,IIl90, 'at this...'; it is similar to jalo...B The o of course refers to rnoua (n'toya, moe,); it is the pronominarconcord of Clrss III.9 rnoragd gd m.oo, after that; see Notc 7 abovc.10 rerisarya, a Reciprocar form frorn the causativererisa, m:^ke

Perhaps the most subtle

and elusive of all setswana verbal usages are

those whichbo in an aux'iary capacity. This mightbe ca'ed the"-ql:y'Probability bo, or the'Inferentiar bo' : in fooor.r" and BnowN it is cailedthe'Progressive Mood'. (It certainry seems tohave the features of a .mood,, but

there

is nothing to warrant the term 'progressive'.) No one

term, however,

can really explain it, and the rearner has tJwrestre

with actuar authentic casesof its use until he begins to get an idea of itssignificance.

The following eramples are set out, with as much

context asin order that the learner may consider them oneby one.

possibre

(1) If you hear about a very crever and able person, but have nevermethim, you might say of him-

that,s so, they will be boys (or,

you may be sure they are boys) fromthe Lovedale and Tigerkloof schools.

a child complains that other children are threatening

him,and his mother wants to calm hisiearsand wants him to ignore the other children,who are taking advantage of his timidity, she_could say to

him

ba tlhokomologi, nguanaka;ba gu rumolafila,

baa

bo

never mind them, my child;

sure they're only teasing you.

rrm

(4) once our car was stuck in nud during the rainy season. oneof thetwo lads had been sent to aa few miles away, to ask the headman for a'illagespan of oxen to pull us out' when wehad waited a long time, and there wasstill no sign of help appearing, the other lad saidto the driver.oa bo o gana go re

at that time the majority of Batsrvana

some of these cases of narrativc, the sense of tentativeness, or of inference

drau'n from other facts, can be con\reyed in such phrases as 'it seems that . . .','you must knorv that . . .', and so on. But generally it is best left untranslated.It takes a long time before a learner, translating from English into Tsr.vana,can acquire a fairlv rcliable idea as to rvhich Indicative statements in English a

In

Motswana would prefer to render by one of the 1;o Aurilialy usages.

Bervare of confusing tl're Do of probability rvith the Do rvhich is the Impcrativeof the Auxiliary ba e.8., Padisd lllll3, u ho u ntlamili; the lattcr is easiivdistinguished by its concords c.r pronouns, and by the verb being in the Imperativc

(Luke 27: 34-37)

86

sxBncrsr

Translate into Setswana:

where can those women be going carrying

(o' head) grain baskets

Dikgafila.ot.r, tuHng it to ihe chief. zwhenever the rain has properly commenced, the chief p.o".luir.r,the proughingseason, and rve all go to the lands to begin the ploughing. a3 Later on,rt must be that they are carrying

the

rvhen the corn has been reaped, v,e inspan again and ,.','ou.-"-tt-r.-grainhome toMochudi. 4 Non', (of) what can that dust be yonder in theirain ? It wilrbe (of) the tax oxen rvhich were assembred yesterday. 5whenever they havebeen counted, the store-keepers buy them; but nor,v that we hearthat Footand-mouth disease has broken out again, 6 I think that oxenwill not have(r.vill lack) a sale all year round. 7 "Now the fame of shakespearewas alreadyknor'vn by the country; his books were read in Germany andItary. g He(himself) went on buying property (houses) in stratford, und b".u-""ucouncillor

there, all the time residing in London.,' (Diphoshdphoshd, ix)

9 "some people in India are in the habit of having (rua) tame tigers andcheetahs. 10 one story telrs of a gentreman who was nearly kiileJ by thetiger he had brought up. Il He r.vas sitting outside his tent, readinga book,dor.r'n beside him. s1.2rvent on doing this for a *hile.

his beast lying

hand; it

rhe tiger began to lick its master,s

13 1n. g.ntr"-an suddenry rea-

lised rvith horror that the wilcl beast's instinct (origi'nal habit)had arisen;1+ but because he knerv the rvays of wild beasts, he r,r,.as afraid to take

away hishand, in order that he should not make the animar more andmore angry.6 1,iHF- tYto\ hrJrlrrl bi sejnrg hit" "surnnfr Tr ? dr$rrnce, so 'ne ca'lreh to 'rirm anit tritilhim to come quickly rvith a loaded gun.7 I16 The gentleman went on sitting, not moving at all, aithough now his hand rvas very painful as the beast con-

tinued to lick it;

to come back. lo

17 he endured the pain u,hile rvaiting for the servanr

18 You may be certain he found it a rong time before the

servant carne back, although the boy 14ras very quick ancl soon came with thegun. 11 19 He too acted u.ith skill, he came near stealthily (by stalking) andaimed at the tiger r.r'ell, and shot and killed it.20 we can well believe thatthat gentleman, from that time, once and for all gave up having a tame tigeri',(See Padisd II, pp. 73-75)

Notes

123

Another case of the Tswana preference for the passive.

Note tsenywe ke letsapa, lit., had been entered by weariness.Note the a tlogilwa.

Lesson 4.ia

terni is a noun frovt go lema, and

215

a syltonym; another

nour1, tema,

nieans rather a piece of ground marked out by being ploughed round u.ith a singleha

ona

z/

furrorv, and thus delimited for ploughing. It also means the plough-furrorv.Hence the derived meaning used in books or rvritten tyork-tema is a paragraph,and ternana is a verse or verv small paragraph.5 rapame is Perfect of rapama, lie dorvn; see L.rsson '18 for these posi-

tional verbs.

o The book from

u,i.rich tl.re cxtract is taken has a certain gramrnatical

form here (for 'lest'), which is better Tsrvana, but u'l-rich has been paraphrasedbecause it has not yet been studied.

7e

tlhaeletsa is to speak very loudly so that someone at a distance can hear.

tlhatlhila (do not confuse with tlhatlaya) is to put animals or stock intokraal; and hence to put a cartridge into a gun or rifle.9 suta is to move one's position, an intransitive verb; to mo\re a thing isto shutisa it. The Applied form sutila has two uses; (1) rvith locative, e.g.,sutila kwa pele, or sutilila kztsa pele, move forward; and (2) with a direct object,e,g., sutdla motho yoo, move out of that person's way, i.e., make room for, or giveplace to, that person. (See e.g., Luke 14:9)ro itshdka is to be patient or persevering under difficulties or delays, toendure; r'vhen one has to express the enduring of any thing or condition, theApplied form is used with a direct object.11 ga re...1 is an idiomatic usage with the force of indeed', 'of a truth',a

1h.." are sc'eral other

usages rvhich cmproy an Auxilia ry bo in one \r-av

another; thcv are riften erusi'e in their meaning, but they are crescribedhere tliat the student rnal' be on the outrook for them ii t,;.,"udir-rg, anci thusgraclually acquire familiarity rvith the circumstances ir u-hichth"y cur. be usecl.

1.7 "Mme sehuba e ne e se sa phdtdgdld fita: fa motho a brnye sengzoe

Translate into Setswana:

1 Sir, why did you not honour the old man by giving him the stembuckyou had killed ?2 I could not see his face for he had his back turned to me. 2p3 You see, the chief does not $'ant just a part of your paauw, he rvants it all.4 when I

say I'11 show you r4rere the hares are hunted, you may be sure (knou.

surely) that I will do so. 5 You will, I think, find him a person who takesmuch pleasure in setswana proverbs and stories and riddles. a3 246 Truly

lliii;i:.

Lesson 44if

the driver hacl not been there a big disaster *'ourci

ha'e taken pracs.2s 7that his motor-car is faster trran mine because he passecLmethis morning,ltr,:l:urrrrro\\.n. b you Joung man, arebullyingacripple?Why, e'en.reallv'outhem.small bo,vs are sorry for cripples and help9Are ,rot nta women moreu'orrh1' of being (ought to be) honoured thanyoung girrsr2o 10 If it rverefor the jearousy of those among rvhom rve lir..,.i.iuo.,ld'othere very nicelvi'cleed'11 'r'here is nci one *hn.rn eat a rvrrole sheeprivehimself, no matterho-,r big hc may bel12 Olcl ma', rve don,t want your.l;;;, you can selltliem tcl those u'ho bcrieve in them. 13\\re have ui*,uy. riveJ without them,ancl rvc rvill go on li'ing *'ithout them._r+ sir, I say th;;;." two proof-s,*'irich sho*'him to be the stearer: 1-5 Inthe first p;.. h;-;. absent fromhorne thiit night; in the seconcr place, his footmarksu,ere found yesterday arouncl,ur home. 16 "If (ri'hen) the time of har'est hascome, the elephants oftengo to the fields of nealies ancr rice, ancl domuch damage. 17 They comeout of thc fbresr at night ancr soon breakdown (thuba) th."f"r-r.., ancl go throughthe gardens eating the.foocl; but their treadciotvn rnore than ttr.y au,. 1gIrr tlrc morning uhe^ the o*'ner of the gardensgets up, rr" n"a.- (lemoga) thatthe eiephants har.e come during the nii'ht,a1cl havc left his lands in ruins.,,(Padisd II i9)Notes

sa'a1a.o is to beco'rc ord or rvastecl

or utterry $,orn ollt; here usecl oftlre dcstruction of the,citv. If a persongrorvs ord an,r useress the verb tsofarais used of him; if a thing, e.g., ;gu._"rir,suffers that fate, one uses the verlr

old people. Lads and bo1's had to givc any 'kill' to thc ncarest senior person,rvho hirnself might halc to pass it on to his senior; s'hen an ar|.rlt made a kill,it had to bc divided up, ancl brcast, hcad, eycs, kiclncys, etc., sent to thc appropriatc authoritics in farnill,-, clan or tribc. (In thc soutl,r siorza.)19 matsalit class \ plu. notrn fronr {,, rsalu, r. begct gi'e birtrr to.20 sehuba, hcre tlte brcirst of ir tlcatl unirnal. T'he n,onl'r has other 1ses,but the same basic meaning. It c:rn Lrc said of a liorse, e ua le selutba, it has goodr'ind, is a good runner; or of a humarr bcing, e.g., o rshuauetsc gore a bo a tn lesehttba le nonofi (Padisd IIIl67), hc certainly must havc goocl lungs and strength.'rhc r'orcl is also used of lurg ill'esses or complaints; he bolazoa he sehtfia, justorke na le sehuba, means I har,.c a sorc clrest, or pains in rny lunes.2t bontlha, or rrore usually bontlhattttgzue (from lfl/ra, c:nd or part),

means a part or a portion of ar-rvthing.

22 Note that

there is a tlialcctic variation

irrdefinite of the Potential rnoocl

of Ju ne ke

23

sa hake ha

kgatlhiga

rika

nt:gatir.c

of thc

'ot pleasure 'ot

ka (or mo) is to takeor intercst in

go hgatlha motho is to pleasc

top. Bt

in tlrc

past-

; some tribes sav ke 1e he ka sc kahariha ilstead

for 'I couldbuy' or '\l-irsable to buy,.sorrrcthi.g.

person; c.g., lse rti kgatrhitertg Mmutli, patlis| I r,i9,

hgatllm also has tire meari.g of saying thi'gs that are pleasant but1r

Verbs beginning othervrise than these listed suffer no change when the Reflexive prefix is added.

Now, when the objective pronoun of the first person singurar is prefixedto a Reflexive verb (see Lesson 16), the n or ln is not prefixed, but isinfixed between the initial i- and the first consonant of the verb, thus:

**--

il"

Lesson 45

22+

a loa inkanya? (verb ikanya)

(1) Remembcr that not all verbs begi.ning *'ith r are Reflexir.es, althoughmost of thcm are.some, like erse knorv, itsa forbid, irru tily: in ..,ate r, are not reflexiye in arv\rav; otlrers, like ikanya or itslnaarila are rcflexiYc in lirrrn but not in rncaning.(2) 'fhc Impcrativc (A-form) of the lleflcxii.c vcrbsin -a,. e.g., iphitlhi! (not iphitilm), hidc vourself!

Ar-rxiliary i'crbs f/ogra ancl akofa.

The r.erb tloga, like rna'y others of thc Auxiliaries, has both a primarr'meani'g and use, i.i its or'' rigl'rt, ancl ir special rnea.ing rvhcn ltsed in ar-rAuxiliarv capacity.:\s a verb in its orvn rigi.tt, tlrtga (Lesson 37, Note l4) means to get upand goa\\'ay; it is not quite a svnoltyln fot tsa.maya.

"IIne

e rile rc tloga . .

."

(Pad.

II,t4S);

"Fa re tloga Moettgele a rava flrcrg zau

ntlo a re

.. ."

(Padisd 11146)

u.hcu n.c lcft . .

u,hc'*-c

cleparted the Angel said to

the master.of the housc . ..

It is this simplc form r,hich yields the much commoner verb, tlogila, to depart from, or to lcar-c, somconc or somc placc (and lrencc, to leavcsomeonc or

from that day, thc lion sharcd (its)

'I'he verb akofa, to hurrl or hasten is, likc tlogu, nsctl as an Au,riliary asuell as in its on'n right; indceci it is much commorler as an ;\uxiliary.In its general use and meaning it is very sirlilar indeed to the Auxiliary tloga,but it indicatcs rnorc speeci or haste or irnmediacy. In thc Nerv 'festament itis frcclucntlv usecl to translzrtc 1\'Iark's 1ar'ouritc adlerb e u0us, 'straightn.ay','at once', or 'immediatell":

Translate into Setsu,ana:

1 Hurry up, hide yoursel'es in that ca'e at the back of the rock, befr,:,thc men arri'e. 2 Why are you rvorrying yourself about thisthi'g, u.hicvou cannot at all c:hange (alter) ? 3 \\rhener.er I see people's beha'iour liL.

that, I say to myself, to knor,r' orieself is better than to enrich onesel

f.+ \\-a..a minute, do not ans\\rer him just nou,; I shall soon thinkhon, he ca'be dea.:rvith. 23 5 children *.ho ha'e good parents take(generally) example fror:..them-except those rvho are a la*. to themserves. 2io uv fricnd, r,o .cannot free yourself and deny your blame, for you have alreadytied yourself u:by making an agreement rvith those robbers. z!7 If you have been

all day, mma, u'hy did you not call your mother-in-lns,soon we shall go to spend the evening at Mmadipina's;

it is she rvho alu.ays tet:

My brother, if you ahvays refuse to give in to the larv like"this (as youdo), r-oalone, without a single friend.zg 11 If I

*'ill 'erv soon find yourself all

had a lot of goods, I rvould build myself a nen, house.

themselves are not generally mourned for by their own

rz people who destro..

folk. 13 si., hur.i.

and go to report yourself to the doctor, that he should not

lose his time (of) t:trs.3o31 14 Once when we were at school I had a companion

come here 16

of mine;15 but from that time, I only rvrite to hir:year. 16 I certified to them that my expenses generalry are greale:

a felloll'studentonce every

than my \\'ages; but if they u'ill still refuse to rr"ui*., I shaliappeal

myselfto the chief. 17 "There came a leper tohim, kneeling u.rd ,uyirrg, lforif you tvishlo' you have the power to make me clean. 1g Jesus, since he"took pity onhim, stretched out his hand and touched him saying, I rvill; be madeclean.3219 The leprosy left him quickly, and he was creansec{; butJesus charged hirr.and at once sent him au'ay, saying, 20 See, do not tellanyone anything:

Lesson 45

227

go and show yourse\t to the priest, and take for your c\eansing an ofienng ol thethings that Moses commanded, to be a witness to them." (Mark 1 :40-44)

Notes

1 Some of these Reflexives have slightly different meanings from the

original verbs. E.g., ipolila, tell of oneself, admit, confess : and itaola meansto be lawless, to obey no law but one's own; go itekais to try hard, to exert oneself.2 dumalana is a Reciprocal, from dumila, believe or agree; see Lesson 46.3 tlhakana is to mix (Lesson 37 Note 9) ; so tlhahanila is to mix togetherin something, i.e., to take part, share or lot in something together rvith others.4 Note a bodizoa mmaagzai,lit., she lvas asked her mother; i.e., rvho hermother was.

5 wa batla go tlhdbbga; batla is here used in an Auxiliary capacity, and

means to near'ly do something ; trans. 'neaily despaired'. (Literally, he soughtto, or wanted to, despair.) Exampleske batlite go mo lemoga, I nearly recognized him: "jalo ya re fa a utlzt:a pina -e batla go tshwana le ya ga mmaagwi . . .,,(Padisb 111163 f.),when she heard a song u'hich rvas nearly the same as her"omother's ... and Psalm73: 2, "... dinao tsa me di batlile go ),a ...", my feethad almost slipped.6 iniila, Reflexive of Applied form of naya; i.e., to give oneself to something, or devote oneself or submit to something.7 loga maand is a phrase meaning to prepare a plan or device, or, as wesay, to 'make plans'; literally, to weave schemes. With toga the plural, maand,is generally used; in other connections the singular, leand, can be employed.8 timola, Reversive of thna, means to quench or allay; one could saymetse a a tsididi ko 6ni a a rimolang lenydra; but it is generally used, as in thissentence, in the Reflexive ra'hen the meaning is to quench one's orvn thirst.I botlhdkzpa, literally, rvhich is lacking; hence, rare; hence, precious,ro lebiga, Stative of leba; be lookable-at; i.e., to appear or seem.lt maiisAd means manners, outward behavior.rr;go a na maitsid,"-.g.,he has n<r manners' he does not know hou, to behave. (cori-,pui.mehgzaa, habitsor customs, and maikailild, intentions, desires, purposes.)12 Note plural of loso (losho), i.e., dintsho (dincho) .13 hufiga, to be jealous of, hence, to gnrdge.14 moipolai ga lelelz.ue is a proverb.5

fast. (Better, go itima dijd.)

iilsa has the trvo meanings; (1) as Reflexive of disa- to w-atch oneself, to beware of; and (2) to spend the evening. (see Note 12 to Lesson2g.)Here it Tireans bexare oi, or be on one.s guard against.ls bobelotshitlha (literally, yellow-heartedness), covetousness. Note thethat is, to

18

Lesson 45

228

iissimilatiorr of thc 7r of pelo to thc D of the prcfix. "fh.s does not holcl i' allclialects, lrut it does in most of them, for tl.rese bobelo-compound abstract nou1s.

m, hc lu. . ., i."., a placc *,hcrc I ca'

iltellcng. Go iketla is to be at eASe, to halc no tnrublcs; it is corlnron in thatscnse, antl the nonn from it is boihetlo.24 To take example from something is lsal'a malebila, the noun ct.rrrripgI'r.m the Applied form of leba; but note, malebila, ttot malebild.25 latola is to de'y tl'rc cxistence of something; the Rcflcxir,c mcaust<r tlcrry that onc has sorncthing, or has clone, or. knorvs, sornething. rr;. I1[areho8.' ,/'/ rrotc a doublc Reflexivc, iitatola; "... , a iiruroli...", lct hirn tle'yhirnsell; lit., iet him deny to himself that hc cxists.26 go.iczaa ke bodutu is to bc catcn by bneliness, i.c.anothcr of the idiomatic 7rz expressions.27 'call'

herre

is 'call

t,

onesclf'

ltitsu.

--

ipiletsa, Reflcxir-e

to be lo^cly; it

is

of Appliecl lb'n ,f

2a Scrr Notc 1lJ abovc.

29 cboha, or, ebonene...30 To pay a sick'isit is rekola; to report on a sick visit is rehodisa-

tlrat is, rvhen you tell thc doctor about a patient, you make the doctor pay thcpatientavisit: autltoreportyourownstateofsicknesstothecloctorisitehodisa;that is, you make him pay yourself a sickYotr lrou' I am or feel'.

visit. so kea gu itekotlisa is ,I am telli'g

31 Lit., should not be lost-by the timc of coming herc.

32 'fhe expressions for having pity or sorro\\, for some person or thingare built up o' the basic phrase tlhomola pelct, to clrarv out the heart. Thus,rnonna yole o rrtlhomola pelo, means, that man drau,s out my heart, i.e., he inspiresI am moved rvith sorrorv for him: or one can say, he rlhomoga

O.r. lbrm of the 'l-srvana verb, callecl the Reciprocal, indicates that thc

action concerned is done to each other, by two or more agents acting

atthe same time. The typical rnethod of fonnation is that the-l of the simple

rerZ /ecanzzes a-za (?'e-E'cr -z//J?f

". . . ba le bantsi ba tlaa hgoPizaa, ba

tlaa dkana, ba ilana" (Math. 2:l :10); ,

"Ba

dumalana

jakt, bu

simololu go

one another and hate one another.

they agreed together thus,

and

began to teach each other doctoring'

rutana bongaka" (Padisd I159) ;

". . . ba boldldlana

Inany lvill stumble, thev wiII betray

haJa ba ne ba diru-

galilwa ka tertg" (Padisd IIIl87);z

they told one another what

happened to them.

had

4la, the resulting

ofvowels,assimilation-alana, and webybecomes,frequently-dlana5:44), ata(YohaneB),amogalanaII(Lesson45dumilaaanotdumalana,gethahna, etc. This assimilation of the vorvel of the verb to the volvel of the suffixdoes not take place in all cases, but it is of frequent occurrence'Now, when the verb undergoing this change ends in

Another form of the Reciprocal ending, usecl in a number of common verbs,

is the change of the original -a to -agana (Perf . -aganye). For example,from leba we have both lebana, to look at each otl'rer, and lebagana, to be facing,to be opposite; and hence, to be due to or to be the right of'

was going on reading,

a voice speaking opposite the

The student should note this type of Reciprocal and be on the look-out fortshwara is another common verb which evinces it; tshznaragana is common'

Nor,, all these Reciprocals ending irt -ana can be made causative bychanging the -ana 6 -anya, Perf . -antsi; this may be called the Reciprocausative. Thus from lebana, look at each other, we have lebanya, to makepeople look at each other; and from lebagana, be opposite, we have lebaganya,

to make things or people be opposite to each other.4

Lesson 46"

Molnd

lebaganya

tlhophile dild dingwe go di

le bagolo" (Padisd IIIll2);

231

the law has chosen certain things to

the right (perquisite) ol

old people. (Lit., to put opposite.)

make them

A number of these Reciprocals and Recipro-Causatives have already

into the Lessons and Exercises:patagana, pataganya;rulagana, rulaganya.

tlhakana, tlhakanya;thc

lekana,

gat

come

lekanya;

nple

tray

hgaoga is the mere action of parting asunder, as a rope when it 'parts';

hgaogana refers to the state of the parted ends, or things in a like position;hgaoganya is the action of some agent which severs or sets them apart.

A few verbs are comrnonly used in all three of the endings we are studying,and show the range of meanings: for example

her.and

(The last verb therefore approaches the meaning of the transitive verb hgaola,

ring.

to cut or divide; but hgaola generally has the meaning of cutting-off something

had

from some larger thing.)

thula is to smite, hammer, give a blow to; s

thulana is to collide or bump into each other, as, e.g., two vehicles;thulanya is to make things collide with each other.

Iting

I u'eatauffix

In the

case

of verbs ending in the simple form in -sa, -isa, -tsa, or -tsha

(these are often, but not always, Causative verbs), the Reciprocal endingis always -anya and never -ana:makes the Reciprocal botsanya, to ask one another.dwnedisanyadumedisa, greet,sehisanyasehisa, sue, proceed against,

boha, ask,

:rbs,rple,

:ing,

gaisa,

exceed or

fiusa, help,

tinc: the

excel.

gaisanya

thusanya

comfort,itse, knou',

gomotsa,

gomotsanyaitsanye

(Note that in the last, the irregular -e ending persists in the Reciprocal.)6

here

There is an idiomatic phrase,

hose

go dirana /e . . . which

is virtually equivalent

to go na le ,. ., to have; "u tlaa dirana le khumd .. ." you will have riches . . ,(Mathaio 19: 21). It is not in very common use. (See Bahebera 4: 1.3, "...rvith whom we have to deal"; and Padisd IIl128, "go dirana le pheko ...")

t fornon.

il

There is a common use of the Auxiliary re which, by a natural extention

of meaning, indicates an intention on the part of the agent of the mainverb. In this a re .. ., literally 'he says (said)', has the force of 'he intended,

itsart)'e is usuallv usccl rvith 1t; sec Exercisc 9l'i3'

up,rrgign is to siring out upon, as a lion; useci of pcople to spring

and dash off on a hut]t or to \\'ilr,

Lesson 46

234

8t

ipuah, fike ihuila (to appeal) in Exercise 90116; to speak for oneself.hgarebb is a young woman' say up to about 30; hgaribaneor,', a younger woman' say round about, or belou', 20. Although generallyrekgarebiused ofunmarried women, the term does not necessarily imply a ,ti" "orvirginity, likethe Greek word 'parthenos'.Notice the ya re in this sentence; the nearest translation here wourdbe

'it

decided . . .'.

Il

a e tlolila mokwatla, lit., it jumped for it the back; i.e., it jumped

on its (the goat's) back. (Better, a e tlolila mo mokwatleng.)tz gadima is to turn round and rook back; onoiito is to lookinto, ordown into, something. (Brfi gadima also means to shine or flash likerightning,rvhich itself is logadima.)13 podi e e tala, the unsuspecting, or credulous, goat. As in English,an unripe or immature or unready thing is a 'green' or ,fr1sh' thing.(Anotherinstance on p. 48 of Rammdni.)14 ipdna, see oneself, etc., is often used in this secondary or figurativesense of realising or recognising one's fault or blame; o iponyemolato, he hasrealised his fault.

rs

itulana is to travel to one another; but we have already seen that

the verb itila often bears the meaning of journeying to some place or persontosee or visit it or him. so the Reciprocal means to be inthe halit of paying visitsto one another, for friendship or for trade: i.e., to have dealings with. Noticethat, like itsanye, it is used with re; "Gonne Bajuda ga ba itaraie reBasamaria,,( Yohane 4: 9), "For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans,,.Phagble Kgaka comes to the same thing as bo-phagi Ie Kgaha.l:tz ba-ganala,Applied form ol ja nala, to spend some tirie at a friend,s._jd:lapl":._.- The term generally implies a much longer visitthan do the verbs trhdraand lehola.

la

ixhokobiga is to hesitate, dubious or uncertain;

to be at a loss, andsee what is the best thing to do.19 buisanya,literally, make one another to tark;conversation is puisany|.aga, build, agisa make to build or make peace;agisanya to make one another beat peace; here used in perfect, live at peace.'health' is generally in Tswana a plural now; rnatsogd.:?21 'astonishing' is yo o gahgamatsaig.'but one could also say, e ne e renamane e tona ya motho, rit., he was a bull-calfof a man; i.e., an exceedingly

to wait to

able or vigorous man.

22 farologana (farologanye) is to be different, intransitively; ,,naledi

nngwe e farologanye mo go e nngwe ha kgalahh',,one star difiers from another insplendour (I Bahorintha 1.5:41-). Butftrroroganya (farorogantsilmeans not onlyto make to be different, but arso to be abre to see or discerndifferences whichexist' E.g., Ditird 15: 9, "ga oa ka utafaroroganya tno go rona rebdni,,, wherethe meaning is not that he did not make th"* io be difierlnt,but that he did notrecognise any difference l "he made not the slightestdistinction between us andthem" (Moffatt). Or, a u itse gofarologaryo *)dgd rnengwet, *rog*rZ do youknow the differences between the varioirs vegetables? -

Lesson 46

235

23

setslnaantshd, lit., sornething made likc; tshrt'atttshu is the Causativc

of tshwana, be or become like.24 baikgagapeledi le basiamolr.,di le ba boaka. I"irst n'ord has thc ciotrblcApplied cnding and the Reflexivc prefix, from simple verb gagaptt, to seize orextort things, to be ler,v greedy, to take the lion's sharc of things: herc it trans,ates the English 'extortioners' . basiamolodr. is from siamolola, the Reversive ofsiama, and means to do n'rong or act urrjustly (I-esson '17): ba boaha is literally'people of aclultery'.

fnis is a very interesting form' Its characteristic

36, Note 5 : and see difierent

AThe-o/olaendingisatransitiveone,andtheverbtakesadirectobject.The man said he had come to ransom" Monne a br.tlila fa a tsile go rekololathe child with all these oxen' (Lit''ngtt)atta ku tlikgomrt tse tsotlhe" (Pad'to un-buY, or buY back; redeem'ill117);

ransom.)

remolola koloi

koo

take the brake offthc wagon thcrel

wagon (Lesson 39' Note 16) ;

(rima, aswell as mcaning chop, means to brake aback the brake handle')so remololais to un-brake, to unscrew or turnSometimesthereisachangeinthcprincipalvcrwel,asinthccaseoftheCaushut become -e' just as thc Causative form; in the trvo ubnu" "*o'rrples thc -ibccomes -a-; paTa, for examplc'ativc of rika is rekisa;b.r, o..o.lor",ully the -y'in the Rcvcrsive pagolola'to hang up, or put anything in a high placc, bccomcsnol l>egolola'1

ol:: .Jltt as bofobkt

Thc -ologa encling is the corrcsponding intransitiveis to overpitikololauntied:oris to untie' bofologiis to become uncloncoverturned'orupsctbccometoistlu'n or upset-Padisa ilO-ana pitihotoga

un-tircd. But its corrcsponding transitivc

form is lal>olosa (not, as u,e might expect, lapolola), n Crusatir-e iu ftlrm, rvhichmeans to givc rest to, to make to take rest (Malhaio 1l: 28). Thc Rcflexivc oftl-is is itapolosa, to give rest to oneself, i.c., to tarlie a rcst (I[arclrc 6:,il). ']-herctapologi, and boitapolosd.are tlrus two nouns for restAnother interesting Ret'crsivc in very common r-rse is galtologilzl'g, rcmembcr.It stcms from the simplc rerb galza, rvhicl.r is a trar.rsitivc verb, difficult to translitte in Iinglish, but rvhich r.nay be trar.rslatecl slip-thc-memory' or' clisappcar-

tirecl or \\'eary; so lapologa is to bc

from-mind;

see Appcnclix,

se nhgahile means, it had slipped

i.c., as rt'c $'ouicl sav, I had forgotten it.

Article 25; se ne

lit., it had slipped

,1y memorySubject and object are changed rottnd in the

English.

(Synor.rymous u'itl'r /te rle

ke se lebetse.)

Norv, the Reversive transitive of gaka is galeolola, to pr,rt-back-in-mind, to

hence, to remind, couusel, advise; and the Reversiverestore-to-memorygaholointransitive, gahologa, is not used directly, but in the Applied Passivegilzaa, with meaning 'remember'.Notrr1s from thcse verbs are, mogakolodi, cottnsellor, adviser; ksalilloli,ndvice, counscl, retliucler; kgaleologild, memory.NOTE]

(1)

Sometimes

the Rer-ersives -ologa and -ololtt xppear in the shortencd

forms-ogaand,-ola: e.g., tshologa, becomcspilled or poured out, probablv Reycrsile of tshola: tlhatlolu is tl.re Reversive of tlhatlat'a, so mealts to take somethinga pot, perhaps-ofi a fire. (Note hori'ever that tlhatloga is a quite differcnt-r-crb, meaning to go up or ascend.) So alsofetoga, .fetola, hare a1 indirect Re vcrsive significance.

(2)

rola (Rer'. of rzlala), to take

Very common irregular Reversives areof apara), to take off one's(Rer'.apolaone'sfeet:anything off one's head or off

clotlring: also tsola (Rev. of tswala), take off lower garmeut.

(3) Quite a ferv verbs ending in -ologa and -olola are not Reversivesor at least have lost their perl.raps original Reversive significancc; e.g., sinolola,simologa (Lesson 28, Note 3). And the majority of those ending in -oga, -ola,

Lesson 47

238

are not Reversives at

all;

such as rumola, ftlhola, Jalola,.fologa, lehola, lemoga,

taboga, etc.

A An idiomatic

II

the meaningtake

action. The

of re with the negative formative gra or Sa conveys

of something, or refusal to take notice or tomeaning is obviously just that of 'say nothing':

usage

of

basic

ciisregard

ke mmoleletse, mme ga aa re

sepi; I told him, but he said nothing'

By an easy extension of meaning this becomes to disregard or not to care:

Lord, do you not care if we Perish i

krt a re sePi ha dild

But Gallio cared not at all for these

Morina, a ga u re sePd ftt

nyilila?" (Mareko 4: 38) ;"

"Mme Galio a

se

tse" (Ditird 18: 17);

"Mosimane

ini ga a re sePi lefa a sa

direle mosetsana"

(M.

le

M.l14) ;

cloes

not r'r'ork for the girl.

idea of su{clenness can be rendered in one of three idioms, all employing the verb tshoga in some form, along rvith fta. There are threeprincipal forms; (a) tshoga ha, (b) tshogana ha, and (c) ha tshoganetso; theiort i" an adverbial phrase. Examples clemonstrate the manner of use of these

mouth ' ' '

Such examples demonstrate the force of this idiom, r'i2., that the speaker or na;rator has experienccd the events he is relating as sudden surprise or an unpleasan:shock. There is alrvays something of this underlying idea in the verb fsftog';rvhether it is used in its orvn right, or in this semi-auxiliary or adverbial war

'

-1llF

Lesson 47

239

first of the last tr,r.o examples, the ba refers to the shepherds, who had theof the angels' appearance; in the second the re refers to the boy'sparents; the father is using the plural '$,e' as he describes his experience of theIr.r tlre

Translate into Sets$'ana:

1 "To-day it is knou-n that the eclipse

of the sun happens

13 2 shading (stand-

(clarkening)

rvhen the moon passes bet*'een the ri'orld and the sun,

in the light of) the sun partly, or all of it, (and) its light is not visible for

'ri

ii{l

Il

llilii

2+0

Lessott 17

little while. la3 Sometimes the rvorld, in its movement (going), comes inbctlveen thc sun and the moon, so the rnoon darkens, by being shaded (put in-l Those-rvho-study these things, they knou.the shadorv) by the rvorld. t srvell the movenent (going) of the u'orld and of tl're moon; they are able to foretell the time rvhen the sun rvill bc sl.raclccl bv thc moon, and the time rvhen thcmoor-r s'ill bc sl'raclou'ccl by the u'orlcl.5 So people ought no longer to feareclipses, for they arc tl.rings n'hich arc ll.ro*'n, the day on rvhich they can be expcctcd is also knorvn, ancl thc r-ery hour in u'hich they rvill happcn. 6 It isgenerally so forecast in tl.re papcrs, that an eclipsc u'ill happen (be) on such-anclsuch a day, in order that pcoplc should gct ready to see it." (Patlisd IIl,57) 167 "Oncc a merchant of the country of Francc took a journey to such-anclsuch a placc, to rcceive the moncy for a delrt thcrc:. Ife u'as ricling a horse andhacl his clog. tl \\'hcn he hacl got that moncy hc put it in a bag, ar.rcl hung thcbag on thc sackllc in front of him as he lode, ancl thcn sct out again returnirrghomc. 179 Aftcr he hacl gonc for :r distancc, hc clisrnountcd in order torcst unclcr a ccrtain trcc. He put thc bag of money on the ground by his sicleas hc restccl. 10 But u1.ren hc mountecl for thc sccond timc, hc forgot to talicthc bag. 'lhe dog, becausc it sau'that hc had forgottcn it, u'cnt back to bring it,but it rvas too much for it on accoultt of its *'eight. 11 'l-hc dog soon r.an behind(aftcr) its master, ancl triccl to tell l.rini rvl.rat-hc-hacl-forgotten (lit., his forgct)by barking anrl nhining. 18 12 'fhe merchant dicl not unclerstancl thescsigns; but the dog went on trying to tcll its rnaster in its dog-language that he haclleft somcthing behind. tg13 When it had failcd to stop the horse by barking, it bcgan to bitc its heels.2o 1+ \\rhcn thc merchant salv these things.he said to himself that his dog had gonc mad.2l 15 He knerv that a maddog gencrally hates (leaves alone) rvater, ancl tvill not drink; so rvhen they crosseda river he looked back to see if the dog n'ould drink. 22 16 The dog did notstop (stand) to clrink, for it *'as as eager ts evcr (continuecl to be eager) to makcits r.naster return to thr: money u,hicl'r hacl been left at the r-rnsaddling-place inthe rear; so it rvcnt on biting and barking more ficrcely.23 17 So nou, the tra-

tii:

der, because he thought that tirere was no dor,rbt about the madness of the dog, took

his little gun and shot the dog. 1tl But since he could not endure to see thesight of his dog's death, he stuck his spurs in his horse (lit., pricked the horsc

nith spurs, diporo), and

pressed on (lekila) rvith a sore

heart."

(Padisd IIl25

f.

Notes

On piga see Lessolr 30, Note 11.

inama is a Positional Stative verb-sce Lesson-l[i.3phoha means (1) used of cattle, to go out early in the morning for :short time of grazing before being brought in for milking; i.e., to have 'a bit.of grass', not a proper fecd. (Hence, derivatively, it has been heard used of midmorning tea-the 'elevenses' of Europeans; not a proper meal, but just a bit.o{ scmething and a cup of tea.) (2) pftokc mahuld (nasftuld) is to {orm at ttrcmouth as does a horse s,hen over-driven or heated after a gallop. The tonepatterns of the tu.o verbs are dilTerent.4 ana ...; see Key to Exercises for corresponding English idiom.1

1s put in the shado*'

shutting off the ligrrt of thesun, and noruti (or moriti) *.hich meansthe shaclorv 1",. ;rr-r,r-g"y-,ri Jomethingonthe ground; house, or trec, or cloucl. Gochuli nL,ans, the skr.iss<tthat ti"re sun is not shining.'t.ercast16 such-and-such r;oribi,' note ho*'this *.orcr is Lrsccl here, a'cl ir.r-the rext sentence. Another trord, bonttat,riis used similarry, rvith the sanlemcan_ing, of 'such and such a thing', or '*.har-cio-r.ou-cail-it,.(see ,Additional Notc,,cnd of Lesson 36.)17 saddle sali, a foreign .n.ord.18 'his forget'(Note hori,er-er that there is also a nountebatsd,- tebard.from the causative formrebatsa to niake to forget; it is amedicine administercdfr 1r" ngahato afamiry after a death has occurred in it, to make the members ofthe family forget the dead person. Forin setsiyana ideas, to keep uti,r. in" memoryof a dead member of the fam'y, or to brooclover the loss, is regarded as \vrong,and un-social ; all the emphasis is uponfnrgetting tri".i*rr,'nsuitableand

acr-

ll,l

,rli

Lesson 47

242

justing oneself to De$' conclitions and getting on t'ith the business of living. A'childone whoLorn after another child has diecl u,ill often be called Molebafv, the

tamily; on a tribal scale it is less true because

a good publicthe relation$ip is there tribal ancl s.cial rather than personal, andhe hatpeoplethebytirnelongaforman or u gooi chief rvill be rernern1reredmakes to

STA'I'IVE F'ORNI : POSITIONAL VERBS

perfoi'ce toThc Stative fbrm is such a common one that we have hadsomeacquiredalreadyhavewillanticipate its proper study; the studentbackasfarrdbigahadWeforms.itsknor.r,ledge ol it. ,rr., ui 1."*, in some oftshwa'phuthiga'diiga'ilitsAga'itsege,.* Lessoi 10, and senyiga a little later; also

Actually there are

flur

gr,rup naturally into two tlvos

of this formation, but they

and '.i:siga, and -ala and -agala (ot -aJala)'

endings characteristic

t -iC;

Aofthe_dgaaricldsdgaformlittlemoreneedbesaid,sincewehavehadhas been explained more than once. Most-o.ry "u..-. of it,'itand lt, for..of them prefer -isigai thus from rapila,afervverbs make the Stative-iga, butpray,wehaverapilisiga,beprayable,i'e',approachable'willingtolistentoprayers'

_iga are Statives

ndga, Lesson 37, Note 1, have special meanings')

' (Z)

areNote that most of the -iga r.erbs, attcl manv of the -isiga ones'ororiginaltheonlybutstate,apersistingnotindicatelnitiative in nature; they(seeNotesorcondition.stateacertaininresultsnitial action, or process, \t'hich

are therefore by their nature

.o Lessons 13,20,2\,znd'Lesson 23 I A,etc') They3Present'Englishanused in the Perfect to translateare used irtBut not all, of course, are Initiative; the follorving, for example,meaningbasicthehavetheyofalTairs;stateapresentthe Present tense to indicaterapahsiga,ratiga,zsomethingofbecomingthanbeing something, rather

of

nametsiga, boitshlga.

of frequentThe other pair of endings, -ala and -agala (or -afala) are alsoin meaningdifferenceconsistentanyseetodifficultisito""rr.r..r"., andprefer thetoseemverbssomestatives.betweei them and the -iga -isiga

Lesson 48

244

one sort of suffix and some the other sort, and a ferv take both

e.g., dira,

to

do,

can yield diriga, and dirala, and diragala or dirafala. The- -agala or -aJa|a

ending seems to be commoner than the -ala form.4

This ending is much used to form verbs from abstract nouns. Thus s-ehave tsofala (grow old) from (bo)tsofe, sueufala (become white) from -sweu;thuthafala is to become \varm or hot (bothuthd or bothithd) ; ntlafala is to becomenice or pretty or clean (-ntli), and leswifala is to become dirty (leswi). Generallvthe vowel before the -fala is a, but sometimes, as in the last word, it is the finalvorvel of the abstract noun.Examples of the -ala ending are not so common; we have had bdnala, bevisible, evident; and there is utlzuala, be hearable, audible.

Not many of the Statives ending in -iga or -isiga form Causatives; butthe other group, those ending in *ala or -agala make the Causative fornrby clranging the -ala into -atsa or the -a.fala into afatsa. See Lesson 36 I C.So r't'e have:

thuthafatsa, make hot or warm. thatafatsa, make hard, make strong.ntlafatsa, make clean or nice.leszlifatsa, make dirty; soil, foul.

The verb hurnaniga, become poor, and a ferv others like it, add the Causatir.ehumanegisa, make or cause to become poor.

ending;

Remember that the language often prefers to use the Stative formationrather than the Passive, although the two are very close in meaning; moreso in some verbs than in others. It is in such cases difficult to express the meaningof the Stative (in a translation) except by a Passive:

"Mo tlalelong ya bdni ba ipa pitsd gapi. In their distress they called anotherya umakdga" (Pad. meeting. Once again killing wasrrrl25);rnentioned.umaka is to make mention of; in the above one might have expected potai,Gapi-gapi polad

ya u.mahuta (umahiwa), which indeed is the only way English can express it; butTswana prefers to say umahiga, the Stative form, meaning literally 'mentionable'.or'ready to be talked about'.

il

POSITIONAL VERBS. A fairly large group of verbs, showing three

different types of ending, can conveniently be considered here, although

they are not really Statives; they have affinities with the Stative formation verbs,and they are all Initiative. They are all indicative of some state or position orposture, generally of a living thing, either animal or person, or of some organ or

limb of a living body.

-ama, Perfect -ame:

inama,atlhama,hotama,

bow or stoop down (Lesson +7

lie open or be open.

crouch down, sitting on heels.

IB).

Lesson 48

245

bend down (kneel).

be overlooking or overhanging.lie scattered about (gasa, scatter).lie on the front, face dov'nwards.lie on the back, face upwards.

hhubama (ka marrydli,)

okama,gasatna,

raparna ha sebete,5kanama ka motlhana,G

(palama or pagama, to climb, and siarna, to be straight, and hence right or good(Lesson 17), belong to this group of verbs.)

-dra, Perfect -ere:7

hulara,iphotlhara,

to have the back turned towards someone.

to become stripped bare, destitute.

iphara,

to be crossed, as legs when sitting.

mo?nara,

to crowd around or over something.

(We have had tshwara and apara, Lesson 17; their 'Positional' significanceis slight, but it is there, and they certainly fall within this group.)

sule.131415 18 Bera ya tla

jalo ya nto dupadupa;

setswatsu:eng e sa moExERcISE

96

dira

sepi."

rno

gopola go re o sule,(Padisd I1811 ta

mn?e

ka

ini yo o !olr'tloga ya boilu n'-'

go

la

Translate into Setswana:

1 "The history of the tribcs holcts (plu.) much instruction for thosc rvh,,pay attention to it.17 2 'lhar of educated peoples rvho have advanced ,slvritten dolvn skilfully and in order. 3 It has been put in order long ag<,r.when progress had beeu madc (entered) in the nations. t8 4 Thus ll'rsee how the great nations, u'hich rve see halc adl'anced, began. 5 'fhe stepsthey took, w'hile they were beginning, appear clearly' 6 The history of thcEuropean nations also is well known: they began to learn long after the Jervshad begun. 7 It w'as the Romans lvho took learning to Europe, while th.peoples there rvere still like us Batswana, knowing nothing of learning or progress8 The Europeans too made (sav,) progress rvith difficultv, they u'ere once opservants." (See Padisd IIIIS f.)"Now, there was a disciple at Joppa, called Tabitha; tvhich is, if it i.translated, Dorcas; this v-oman r,r-as full of good u'olks and of gifts rvhich sh.gave (lit., did). Ie 20 10 It happe'ed in those days sickness came to herand she died; so rvhen thev had r,vashed her, they put her in a little top roonr11 Thus, since Lydda was neiir Joppu, and thev heard that Peter was thcrt.the disciples sent two men to go to beg li6 savir.rg, Do not become-slou'-to-r;1,2 So Peter rose up and n'ent u'ith them; rvheu he arrilcd.16 gsrns,2l 22they took him to the little upper room; the u'idos' r,\-omen u-ere standing abot::her, crying and showing the cloaks and dresses l'hich I)orcas made nhile she ne.with them. 13 But Peter put them all outside, and remained and knehdown and prayed; thus he turned to the bod.v antl saiC,'fabitha, r,se up. S.'then Dorcas opened her eyes, and ',1'hen shc sarv Pt'ter she got up. 1'l $rPeter gave her his hand and laised her up; (and) r.'tren hc had called the sainrand the rvidows, he gave her to thcm alive. 15 After that it happened (car::.to pass) he spent many days in Joppa, lvith one tvho was called Sim,,,rr' a prepa!-r:(mosugi) of skins." (Acts 9: 364l1zspressed by other tribes who made them

14 ihltupetsa fr<tm lrupiltt to be sulTocated or chol<ed or unable to breathe;

Note the reduplicatecl lerb, meaning to snulT all round a thing as

animal cioes at something unknorvn or suspicious. Sce next Lesson.

ar.r

17 'historr,'; there is no

Tsu'ana uord u'hich exactly translates this

'tribes'or 'races' (sing. /r.rlsd, /ocd). I{eme'rnberrvord; nearest is r/itsd, meaningalu,avs that thc linglish in thcse cxercises is not mcant to be idiomatic, but tr-rhint at the rvay it ought to bc translated into 'lsrvana. (For /otsd se, e.9.,Padisd IlS, "lolsd loo Khudt kttlhe", the n'hole tribe of tortoises.)18 'long ago', ga ... bolo, zr curious idiorn meahing'a long time ago'.6o1o is ncver used by itself, or in an allirmative construction; it rvould seem tonrean'recently', but is ahvays used in this negativc construction; ga ke bol.o gotla, I came a long timc ago. Notice that it is not uscd as a regular Auxiliary

is to tear clr retrd, so gagolakaka

irrdicates tl.re r,irtlerrt \\,ay

il"ngty lion tcars his prey to pieces')

Reciprocal crrdirrg -.tlkt e|:

bothappliedtothesameverb,thelntensiveendingcornesnextthestem'orcoln!:tirst, and the -ana suffix last:"

go bdnala go re

re ntse re JaPaakana

o rlitseleng;' (Diphoshdphosd,p'

(fapaana is

51);1

it appears that rve are ahvavs nlissl:

each other in the streets'

to change position u'ith' or take turns rvith, something')

BAusagealliedtothelntensiveisthedoublingoftheverbitself,toindic.:.extent' or in many directic:''that the uctio,t huffe""a to a considerableformation of the ve-:derivativereally aor a number of times. ilri, i, notthe element of 'r'iole::-'Intensitive,i1-r.Although it has similaritv oi -"".ri.rg toisabsent.Wehavealreadyhadoneortwocasesofit;seetlhotse-tlhotse'':Note 6'L".ron 29, Note 20; and fofa-fofa, and Lesson 33'

Lesson 49",., lo e le dithanyatxyanatseo, peoe

251

trc ditsh"ueu as for these little rvhite flcwers, the

tsa birds took their seed and scattered it

),a tsdni yatsiwahe dindnyane

grasagasa rno nageng" (Padi:d

III165);

all over the veld.

lvhen the'erb undergoes this process of doublirg, very often

ntshclashold,' put out \.our

hancl

it

is only the

to me and

stroke

me.

Notice here that the Obje:tival pronoun or concord cornes before the firststem, anC the Imperutive B-form enJing takcs place ri-ith the second stem:ino:her words, the doubled 'r'erb is treatcd as if it lr'ere one single vcrb, shclasl;claor solasola.

"Ga

tzue,

ithutathuteng rnedifi"

17152);

(pad. It is said, learn all the duties . .

Here the Reflexive r- of the second stem, itlxuta is dropped out, and thewholeverb acts as if it were ithutathuta.Hon'ever, the first stem sometimes inflects also: see e.9., tlhotsetlhotseref.e*

rcd to above (Luhe24: 18).

The student is advised to be careful about using this doubled or ,Repetitive,fbrm of the verb, until he has some experience of just how and when it isusedin good rswana. (see section 105, on p. 11-5, of wookey & Brown, on theIntensive form.)

(1) This construction is more elusive in mea'ing and usage than the oneabove' Literally it may be taken to be'it-can-when ...', buigenerally it isdifficult to translate, and sometimes can be left untranslated:

(In the English it

simply, 'there is nothing which, entering into

But this construction is practically the same as e f/aa re . . . and can

be used synonymously. It does not aPpear to be a dialectic variant, but is amatter of personal preference in speech. But, note that e tlaa ra ' . . requiresany sequent verbs to be in the Habitual mood, whereas e ha re . . . is followed byIndicatives in Narrative form.

with gongwe (or, perhaps):

But this could also have been put

", . . gongwe e ha re go losiwa . . ."

Similarly, e tlaa re frequently takes gongwe, either before or after it, to forma construction with very much the same meaning as e ka re gongu)e. But insteadof being followed by the Indicative it takes the Habitual:

"...a yo kwa go bnb, a re e tlaa re

gongwe a bone sengr,t)e mo go dni"(Marcko 11 : 13);

he went to

it, thinking (perhaps) he

might find something on it ("he

came, if haply he might find . . .")

And the quotation from Padisd 11168 given above could have read, u'ith nochange of meaning,

Translate into Setswana:

1 "The horse's request. NIy master (mong), give (sekigik)

2prayer; I your horse bring (out) to you petitions.zt 22 23

ear to myFeed me'

water me, and take careof me; r'r'hen the day'sworkisfinished,maylfindrest,

a clean bed, and space (mannd) enough to stretch myself (to be with stretching)Be gentle with me at all timeS, eReourage me.rvrth wotds; your voice is efiectiveand stroke(has po'wer) just as leather-straps.24 4 Put out your hand to menot pullDo5love'andcontentmentwithyouiroto) ^"; so will I servebeat meanddon't(hill),upgoingIamwhenme,fr" ,"in. hard' (rutta) or beat25I maythat(of)tirnegivemeproperly;youobeyand kick me if I do notdopull;Icannotiffeet(my)andharnesstotheunderstand you. 6 Lookhead'(laola)mydo-rvhat-I-like-withtoallora'menot haul -. .lor" (garnuttha),7 If you put-blinders-on(sira) me so that I should not look behind, do it so that

they do not press on (gagamatsa,) my eyes' 8 Do not load me (belesa) with

very heavy burdens, una-ao not leave me in the rain with-the-burden-on; and.rrifo, *" prop", (right) shoes. 9 If I do not eat, inspect my teeth; perhapsone of them is sore and has given me great pain.26 10 Do not knee-halterme tightly, and do not deprive-me-of (amoga) the self-protection,_ I get-rid-of11 Remember ,(:il::l-. t(inamita)" with it flies ani mosquitoes'z7 2a 2sat(all) times' 12 Why,watercleanmegivesothirsty;cannot iell you if I amyounight and day, 13onviaitingIamandalways,I try to r"r.," yor honbstlyto the cold, or giveleavemenotdoisfinished,strengthifmyLastly, *y *".t"r,1+ rathertodeath;hunger)rvith(killmeme*iilstaro'eme to any man whogive youw-illGodThus(hatshiamd)properly(fofotsa)me'do you ie*patchIIll3(Padisdtiine."thecominginandf')30nowblessings, both15 "Now there was a certain widow lvoman' who had three children' allgirls. 1.6 she used to hide them iriside the house, not wanting them to goiutside, by way of keeping them safe frorn (making them fly from) those enemies(dira),lest the baboons should see them and steal them' 17 Her heart told

her iiaa@ always (all days) that she $.ould lose them (Passive), as another peoplehad lost their children, 18 because tire 'woman had to leave them often,and go to the fields to rvork, and to do her other duties. 1'9 Poor children!who used to live shut up in a little dark stufiy (:cthukhutfule&zr,) house, neverbeing able (seeing) to breati:e fresh air (rvind);3t z0 also they $'efe notstroig, they u,ere thin, for th<y di<l not get outsicJe to be in the light, they spentthe whole time inside the

Notes

house'"

(Padisd

IIIl58)

Translating the line, "I see we still did meet each other's man", about42 lines from the end of the PlaY.? hhina (kina) is to tie one of the horse's knees to halter or bridle by a

Lesson 49

255

short thong, to prevent rt moving except with difficultl'. If hot'ever the method is to tie the tri'o forelegs together at the pastern, the lerb is pana' Thisis the general rvav of hobbling donkeys. (To tie a cow's hindlegs n'hen about ttrmilk it is to kaoa (or kaa) it, or to katloa it; nouns, mohad and katloo for thethong kept for this purpose.)3 itshika is to be clean or pure; the Reversive itshehologa is to be impure

or unclean, and itsheholola is to make unclean or impure.

to hunt lions or leopards or other large carnivorous animals

rvhich are not eatcn; tsoma is to hunt game animals for their meat, hides, etc.'lhe tr,r'o verbs are not confbunded in Setswana, each is used for the particularlosa means

sort of hunting in question.

or kgogogila, spring out uPon

u'ild beast at bay;

hgotsa or gono are used in the South ('flhaping and Rolong), n'hereis more general from Mafeking northwards.I The line in the play (line'tl, Act IV, Scene 1)is, "No, irear it rvith you,

goTrgzle

lest

I come not time enough."

e kgapha is to make the

smear-patterns

with r,vhich

Batsrvana \\romen

in many places so beautifully decorate their house rvalls and floors. For drarvings

of rn;'r,of these patterns or decorations

see

Padisd

3 and Padisd

I0 hobola is a Southern u'ord, equivalent to lwala.

I1titisild is literally a shaking, trembling or shivering^1? holebana, Class IX noun from lebana.3 iharabila is to ansu'er for oneself; noun hoiharabil|1

a deftrrce, but also means responsibility.

14 tlhotlheletsa, to stir up, is also used

in a good

4.

can mean such

sense.

5 sotla or shotla is to mock, deride, etc.

16 ritibala is to be quiet, settled, undisturbed. See Dictionary.17 bo*held is used here, as ofteu, not for actual life, but for 'livelihood'

or 'living' in the sense of the things on or by which one lives.

18 e se tlo )'a re gongzce is a variant form of e se re gongxae| and meansthe same tlring. Another erample of it occurs in Mathaio 13: 29,"Are, Nnyaa,e se tlo ya re kgotsa ha lo phutln molrcko, loa o khumolila le mabild",' he said, No;lest by pulling up the rveeds vou pull up the corn also.t9 go rona is to be unfitting or unbecoming; thona, the noun, meanssomething unfitting. So here it means, 'it is not an unfitting thing' i.e., it is aneminently suitableDictionary.

thing. It

could also have been put, ga go rone gore . . . See

20 Or more correctl,v, ... ga gomotlzoopAyoehareng.., asegana,

The translation is of the last 7 lines of Act III, Scene 2, of the Comely of Errors'Plaatje uses throughout his translation an extremely colloquial form of language,which is effective, but sometimes a little irregular grammatically. His work ismore of a paraphrase than a translation.21 'my master', nnng?tanxe or mongwaka. The *Aa suffix is frequent inSotho, where it takes the place of me; thipa ya Aa, my knife. In Tswana it is

Lessort 19

2s6

confined almost entirely to the kinship nouns

tsaka, etc.

46v7c44ft4, morwadiaha, moga-

22 sekigila tsibi is probably not good Ts*'ana; it

raism 'incline the ear' used in the Bibie.

232425

'petitions', mekdkdtlild. See kdhdtlila

in

is an echo of the Heb-

Dictionary.

'be gentle', lit., 'become bondlb to me''

See the translation

in the Key to Exercises; se mpetsi, zaa nthuga,

and note the sequence of tenses and pronouns here'

26 'pain', in plural; ditlhabi.z7 i*ogo i" to despoil, depriYe of, take by force ; see Ekesodo 1 2: '16".. . ba amoga Baegepeto", they plundered or spoiled the Egyptians'2a ,riphr*o,- from Jema to parrv or u,ard off an attack. see 31 bclo$"2s inamola is to drive off from oneself, get rid <>f (Padisd III|,77).

In the frr"rit-time (harr-est) hc sent

2r servant . . . also he sent anotherservant . . . at last he sent a third'

fbllon'sIlou'ever, the Auxiliar,v frecluentlv detlotes an action r.vhich merel-vclearsoalrvaYsnotisrrnotl.rer; the sense of that action bcing the last of a. seriesseemdoexamPlesas in thc ts'o examples given abole' \evertheless these trvoto exemplifl'' the real force of this r-erb lthen used as an Auxiliary.

Irr the same $,a,v, this verb, rvhich means to arrive, can be uscdrrain verb tookas an Auxiliary, con'eyin; the sense that the action of theplace vrhen someone or something had just come on the scene'

fitlha.

Lesson. 50

258

(Sometimes it is doubtful if fitlha can really be regarded as an Auxiliary

verb, and not just as one rnain verb in a sequence of main verbs, in the characteristic Tswana fashion; at most, in such cases, it is a'semi-auxiliary'verb.)3Barongwa ba

ba re . .

ya kzca

hgostng

ba fitlha

to the chief 's

place and (there) said . .

itlhagandlila kwn segctlong, ba fitlha ba golola

dipotsane" (Padiso IIll8);"Jalo ka boraro jzla bdni ba

tl're messengers went

nama. 'lhis is not a very

as a main verb,

So all three hurried to the back-yard

rvhere (on arrival) they set the kidsfree.

common verb, rvhethcr used independently

or in an Auxiliary sense. When used independently

it

is

a Positional Stative verb, and has thc meaning of being extensive, lvidcspread,

broad: e.9., thc proverb, Tfuthhwi o rile, Ke lobeld; mme marota o rile, Ke nam.ile:the Thukhrvi said, I'm fast; but the plains said, we are rvide.4As an Auxiliary the verb has the rather curious effect of limiting the actionof the main verb u'hich follorvs it to the ncar future, or occasionally to thc nearpast-to the vicinity, as it were, in time; it conveys the idea of 'for the timeheing', or 'in the meantime', or Just ns1'1,', or 'very soon':"Se ke se dirang ga u se itse

The final r,ou'el of the narna is sometimes assimmilated to that of the

Did you believe (presently, just nol')

that rve could throw a\\,ay the beadswe were given by our elders

ka, ke, ko.

Exigent Imperative. In Lesson 19 II rve had the 2nd person, sing.and plu.-a u ko u riki, and a lo ko lo reheng and noted that this construction implies more exigcnce or urgency than the simple Imperative. Butbesides the fairly common 2nd person, the Exigent Imperative is occasionallr'

1, 'oWhen he did not come home that d"y, or that night, his younger brotherrsgot up early in the morning intending to go and look for him. - Z As they weroo looking for him, ttrey suddenly saw a great many vulturts qrowded togethersomi:thing. 3 When they drew near to see what had been killed, they foundjit was a person's body. 4 The vultures were all round it; one would seizEiit and pull it, another would pluck it and bring it back, and so on; the corpleallowing itself to be pulled here and there. 5 His younger brothers suddenlyrealised with a shock that tlre corpse was that of their (older) brother." (Padi$

rrl7tf.)

"He went on forward with a heavy heart (or" sorrQwfully), and said tohimself, 'Oh dear, what shall I do (lit., who will see me)! 7 It would bebetter tor have lost my monpy, and not the.f.aithful dog which has been with meall these years!' 8 The thought of his money made'him sftetch out his handto hold the bag of m"oney; wiqh.ashp* he found it was not there! 9 In aflash (lit., a wink of the eye) he realised what he had done, and blamed himselfgreatly because he (had) diqregarded,:the signs by which the dog (had) tried totell him. 10 The rnerchant turned ro.und and went back in his tracks, and.returned to where he had rested., 11 He perceived the trail of blood as hewent on, but he did not see;the dog at all in the road. lZ At laet he arrivedat the tree. The poor man found the bag there, and his dog guarding'it, (it was)in,fhe paips of death. 13. The poor dog had dragged itself to the bag, afterit had seen that its rnaster did not know that he had lost it." (Padisb IIl26f.)l+ "So it happened, as they still went onward in the way, he entered intoa certain village; and there a certain \troman who was called Martha received himinto her house. 15 She had a younger sister called Mary, who also sat atdn Lord's feet and heard his word. 16 But Martha was burdened by muchserying; so she came to him and said, Lord, do you not care that (because) mysister has left me to serve alone ? I say, tell her to help me. 17 But the Lordansrilqred her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and you tire yourself with (by)many.things: 18 .but only.one thing is necessary; for Mary has chosen thegoo{ portioni which will not be taken from her." (Luke 10: 3&42)94.

"So there was war for a long time between Saul's people and David'Speople; but David became more and more powerful, but saul's people becamemore and more weak. 2 But it happened, while there was still war betweensaul's people and David's people, that Abner strengthened himself in the houseof Saul." (II Sanuel 3: 1, 6)3 "For you, my friends, are called to freedom; but do not change yourfreedom (intoj a chance for serving yourselves, but be servants' one of another,in love. 4 For the whole law is fulfilled (made-to-happen) in one wofd,that is, in this one, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 5 But if youbite one another, and eat one another, beware that you do not quite-destroy Oneanother. Let us not be vainglorious, Iet us not provoke one another of treat oneanother with envy." fGalatiane 5: 13-15' 26)6 "In Setswana life, as in the lives of all tribes and peoples, there are legends

Kty to Exercises

+20

'

(stories); or w can say, stories of

long ago which teach something.7 Al_though this is so, these stories r,*.i"t*].dtrr.c"rdJ'";;;"?",*.alreadyjust things for ch'dren when theyp".J"-.u".ri"rrg, ;(but) theteaching in the stories is great,"hio,rgl,iii. rary desiraile ,lr"i ,rr".*ries-abe takencare of'9 that they b: Iet slip, but while they are not yetforgottenthey"o,,be written down, in order that-their*i.at-

nation ' '

'

lr."owredge) be not lost to the setswana

r0 In the 'after-suppei-tiri.'irr_-trrJJ"";g. ;;;he cattre-posts,

when the cattle have come in una

been m'ked, before-beds are laiddown,is the custom to ten fork-tares. "iror il;;:;;;"';i;;,:"r,inostof.themare about Dimo, and it is. crear1"op*r"*j'rrrat Dimo was a person who surpassedeverybody in size (growth); '12also'he was a very terrible person indeed,'(pad^dfor he was a man-eater.',AIF4|Jtlupon a time two men'weie'trave'ing togetJrer,.'to""" andand going througha great forest;since that forest was fufl of wili ri""r.,irr"ypromised eachother that they would help each otherif som"tlriog,irrto*"rj-tipi"""a to themin their journey' 14 one day as theywere traveting be", ru.hed out uponthem out of the thick trees. f !Orr" of-oth"r,th" two, as hI "*". , *ry, quick man,immediately climbed. a tree; 16th"as he was an' older"'iz man whowas not quick rike the other, threwhimserf on the g-";a.he ray onhis face like a corpse and stopped t i-."iibreathingjpre,"rrairrg t was dead.18 The bear came to the one who *". ryiog as if" smelt himdead like tha! andalf.lound-; but because it thought rr" *"r'i""a, it- vvv.soon went back"e'r u4!A rinto the forestwithout doing anything to himJ,@aaidiiSl;

"Some brought to him a man who was sick-with disease of palsy (trernpeople. 2 But since they could not (were preventedfrom) get near him on account of the crowd of people, they un-raftered the housejust above (lit., oppositc) him; when they had broken in, they let down the onewho was ill by the bed on which he wds lying." (Mark 2:3 f.)3 "But when the magistrate had signed to him that he should speak, Paul answered saying, Since I know that yor,(and have been) a judge of these peoplefor many years, I answer for myself"r"glaclly; + for the king can understandabout the time in which I started to go to worship at Jerusalem, that this day isonly the twelfth; 5 they have never yet found me disputing (I dispute) withanyone in the temple, or stirring up people in the synagogues or in the town.l'

bling), carried by four

(Acts 24: 10-12)

"For which of you is it who when if he wants to build a high building,

sit down first and count the money for it, that he may know if he hasenough to finish it:7 lest when he has founded it he be unable to finish it;so all who see it begin to laugh at (mock) him saying, 8 This man, he beganto build, but apparently he was not able to finish." (tuke 14:28-30)9 "The life of the northern Batswana has changed greatly; it is no longerof hunting, it is of people who have settled down . . .10 T ife for-the-mostpart used to be the meat of game; but the hunt demanded that a rnan shouldwork hard, or otherwise his children would get thin." (Padisd IVIS) 11"Smeared patterns demonstrate the desire of a woman to make cleair and to makebeautiful her home. 12 It is evident that our girl children can be taught topay attention to and to take pleasure in this work, 13 in case it be soontotally forgotten. It is not unfitting that they should smear the school-buildings,and their homes." (Padin III|33)14 "Just in the same way, wheneveryou speak with him, Mokotedi, you will-do-well-to have considered your speech;otherwise (or, lest) you find yourself in trouble." 15 '(I no longer know whatI can say. f'm sure there is no one who can refuse a golden omament when heis given it.16 I shall go to the market-place to wait for Dromio; when hethereisaship setting out to-day; by night I shall be out of this city."says(Diplushn. p.27)does not

Chief would have indicated in what quarter he loved, so they would look inocircumstances (or, nature) of the parents of the girl, to see if tn*y were all ri

Also they would look whether the girl's father had a following (or, pain former times civil war was prevalent at home, frequentJy (lit., perh{lifighting for chieftainship; so this following (or, party) of the girl,s father migfibe expected to fight for (i.e., on behalf of) the chieftainship, for their child #involved (lit., because it was to their child). 5 If the chief's uncles and folouCbecause

ers agreed about the girl,. they would say so; if they did not agree, theysay so.6 If they agreed, preparations would be made, and the womanbe brought (lit , would arrive): according to the custom, this woman who arrivedtrwas not the chief wife, she was the mmamoleta (mother of the regent). 7'mother of the cattle' or the 'mother of the chief' was taken later on. The hngwato used to say, 'If the mother of the chief can be taken (married) firsg shctmay grve birth to the chief (i.e., his heir and successor) soon, and he might som;prevent his father from ruling.' 8 That was why the 'mother of the regent'was married first, in order that her children should have no right to seek the chidtainship, as they would know that its owner had still got to be born, in another

house. 9 Apart from the mm.adihgomo, the wives

stood

in order of their :

being married, the first to be taken being the most important; and so also theirchildren rule (have authority) in the order of (or, according to) their mother,lmarriages." (Mehgwa le Melad pp. 112f.)

l0

heaven

"Jesus placed another parable before them.saying, The kingdom of

is likened to a person who once sowed good seed in his garden; 11

but when people were asleep, his enerrry came and sowed darnel also among thecorn, and went away. 1.2 So when the shoots grew up, then the darnel appeared also. 13 So the servants of the owner of the garden came and saidto him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your garden ? then where (also) cdn ithave got the darnel ?14 He said to them, It is an enemy who has done thus.The servants said, If so, do you want us to pull it up ? 15 He said, No; lestwhen you gather the darnel, you pull up the corn along with it.16 Leave it,allow it go grow to (go to) the harvest; thus (when) in the time of harvest I shallsay to the reapers, 17 Gather up the darnel first, tie it in bundles in orderto burn it; but the corn you shall gather into'my barns." (Mathaio 13: 2zt-30)102.

. 18 So he who eats the bread and drinks the cup of the Lordworthily, is really sinning against the body and blood of the'i-ta, -i9he who eats and drinks, not discerning the body, only eats and drinks jto hirnself. -20 But if .we discerned ourselves, we would not be ;"Agt'i{drunk ,. .

1 "One time when Sianana brought-his-cattle-home-in-the-evening

fitr'wffffi

he

with a great big tortoise, which he had got in the long grass. This wasold folks' food, for in addition it had eggs. 2 -So he passed it on (or, gave it)to Siako his elder brother saying, 'Here is a tortoise, sir.' Siako passed it on(made-arrive) to Montlha, for'he was the,Ieader (the elder) of the regiment. 3Not far from Montlha's cattle-post tlere was an bld man Ramorwa, whose rightt'he find was; but since night.was near, Montlha ordered that the tortqise be tieanp, in order that it might (or, irntil it might) be sent to its owner in the morning.,4',:But when in thi: morning the tortoise was lookdd for {we'nt b be looked for),came

mongwe a bile a foufotola matlhd a motho yo o twtweng-a (ou1etse.

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"By the law, whenever a person had (has) killed, he brings what hd haskilled to the elders, any ones whom he may (can) meet. Z Or if it was ajourney; the custom (right) was that a person shquld be followed by one of hisyounger brothers. 3 The latter had to (ought to) help with the burden andwith putting down his bed for him; not only that, (but) also with cooking for himwhen they were resting. 4 Apart from supporting (empowering) law-and.order (lit., command), still more the (this) law was desigaed to care for old people.5 Long ago; there being no books or anything like that, such old people werethe experts in all knowledge of story-(song)-telling and customs and so on; theywere thc.heads of the tribe. 6 A young man, if he was thirsty for.knowledge,could go to dip out a little ffom them by the gift of some (emall) food." (Pddt6rrrlr2)

The time for leaving work came at five in the afternoon. - He went tothe money and went home with it. When hie wife saw him she said'Ytlhat is it you are so heavily carrying in both hands ?' Her husband called hraside and said to her, 'Just look at the luck that has befallen usl'When the womaogtanced in and saw the bag of money, she burst out into a shout, 'Kg"ajululut'Her husband scolded her, 'Look here, be quiet; you are attracting the passers-byl''Well, well, well, now! Fancy that, my husbandt''Do realise that I have found this money; but don't say a word"about igkeep it absolutely darkl', lresently since the man knew tlat his rrife could not Leepra secret, he madea plan for her. He called his wife, and they went to bury (dig in) their money inthe veld. After they had buried it properly,.they thbn went,,backhome. ThEwonun devoted,herself to preparing what thqy wgre going to have for, supper,the man said he was going to snare a little animal in the veld near by. So he.toot .the.trap (iron for catching beasts), and also took his fish-hook with which hccatches fish in the river, and tied a string to it,,and rryent away. (P.aditnAs (lit., where) Rammone was going along he met Mmatheebe. Againwas looked on with disfavour and scolded. .He saw that the ftrson whom bhad been deceiving himself about did not want even to look at him. But sinafor a m4n to be thwarted does not mean that he $ives up (is no! for him to girciup), hc thought that "perhaps a letter would move , Mmatheebe's heart,.. Itrcwrote to the grtl. We have already heard that the gifl did not know how to'rcrdand write. She went all over the town looking for someoqe.to read this'nyseQi*to herr How unfortunate (lit., how it scorns) not to be abfe to,r. adl''Mmagot'hold of a girl from the school to read {it) to her., , f,Idril wodld she,.reade